THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


From  the  library  of 
Henry  Goldman,  Ph.D. 
1886-1972 


so- 


MY  PEOPLE 


MY      PEOPLE 


STORIES    OF    THE    PEASANTRY    OF 
WEST    WALES 


BY 

GARADOG    EVANS 


BONI    AND    LIVERIGHT 

NEW  YORK  1918 


•<  K 


I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 


CONTENTS 

A  FATHER  IN  SIGN      .. 
A  HEIFER  WITHOUT  BLEMISH 
THE  WAY  OF  THE  EARTH    . 
THE  TALENT  THOU  GAVEST 
THE  GLORY  THAT  WAS  SIGN'S 
THE  DEVIL  IN  EDEN  .         . 


A  JUST  MAN  IN  SODOM 
BE  THIS  HER  MEMORIAL 
THE  REDEEMER  .. 
As  IT  is  WRITTEN       . 
A  BUNDLE  OF  LIFE     . 
GREATER  THAN  LOVE  . 
LAMENTATIONS     .. 
THE  BLAST  OF  GOD     . 


PAGE 

3 
23 
41 
65 
85 
105 


THE  WOMAN  WHO  SOWED  INIQUITY     121 


143 
161 
175 
193 
213 
233 
249 
205 


A  FATHER  IN  SIGN 


I 

\ 

A  FATHER  IN   SION 

ON  the  banks  of  Avon  Bern  there  lived  a 
man  who  was  a  Father  in  Sion.  His  name 
was  Sadrach,  and  the  name  of  the  farm- 
house in  which  he  dwelt  was  Danyrefail. 
He  was  a  man  whose  thoughts  were  con- 
tinually employed  upon  sacred  subjects. 
He  began  the  day  and  ended  the  day  with 
the  words  of  a  chapter  from  the  Book 
and  a  prayer  on  his  lips.  The  Sabbath 
he  observed  from  first  to  last ;  he  neither 
laboured  himself  nor  allowed  any  in  his 
household  to  labour.  If  in  the  Seiet, 
the  solemn,  soul-searching  assembly  that 
gathers  in  Capel  Sion  on  the  nights  of 
Wednesdays  after  Communion  Sundays,  he 
was  entreated  to  deliver  a  message  to  the 

8 


MY   PEOPLE 


congregation,  he  often  prefaced  his  re- 
marks with,  "  Dear  people,  on  my  way  to 
Sion  I  asked  God  what  He  meant " 

This  episode  in  the  life  of  Sadrach 
Danyrefail  covers  a  long  period ;  it  has 
its  beginning  on  a  March  night  with 
Sadrach  closing  the  Bible  and  giving 
utterance  to  these  words : 

"  May  the  blessing  of  the  Big  Man  be 
upon  the  reading  of  His  Word."  Then, 
"  Let  us  pray." 

Sadrach  fell  on  his  knees,  the  open 
palms  of  his  hands  together,  his  elbows 
resting  on  the  table  ;  his  eight  children — 
Sadrach  the  Small,  Esau,  Simon,  Rachel, 
Sarah,  Daniel,  Samuel,  and  Miriam — 
followed  his  example. 

Usually  Sadrach  prayed  fluently,  in 
phrases  not  unworthy  of  the  minister,  so 
universal,  so  intimate  his  pleading:  to- 
night he  stumbled  and  halted,  and  the 
working  of  his  spiritful  mind  lacked  the 
heavenly  symmetry  of  the  mind  of  the 

4 


A   FATHER   IN   SIGN 


godly ;  usually  the  note  of  abundant  faith 
and  childlike  resignation  rang  grandly 
throughout  his  supplications :  to-night 
the  note  was  one  of  despair  and  gloom. 
With  Job  he  compared  himself,  for  was 
not  the  Lord  trying  His  servant  to  the 
uttermost  ?  Would  the  all-powerful  Big 
Man,  the  Big  Man  who  delivered  the 
Children  of  Israel  from  the  hold  of  the 
Egyptians,  give  him  a  morsel  of  strength 
to  bear  his  cross  ?  Sadrach  reminded  God 
of  his  loneliness.  Man  was  born  to  be 
mated,  even  as  the  animals  in  the  fields. 
Without  mate  man  was  like  an  estate 
without  an  overseer,  or  a  field  of  ripe  corn 
rotting  for  the  reaping-hook. 

Sadrach  rose  from  his  knees.  Sadrach 
the  Small  lit  the  lantern  which  was  to 
light  him  and  Esau  to  their  bed  over  the 
stable. 

"  My  children,"  said  Sadrach,  "  do  you 
gather  round  me  now,  for  have  I  not 
something  to  tell  you  ?  " 

5 


MY   PEOPLE 


Rachel,  the  eldest  daughter,  a  girl  of 
twelve,  with  reddish  cheeks  and  bright 
eyes,  interposed  with  : 

"  Indeed,  indeed,  now,  little  father  ;  you 
are  not  going  to  preach  to  us  this  time  of 
night !  " 

Sadrach  stretched  forth  his  hand  and 
motioned  his  children  be  seated. 

"  Put  out  your  lantern,  Sadrach  the 
Small,"  he  said.  "No,  Rachel,  don't 
you  light  the  candle.  Dear  ones,  it  is 
not  the  light  of  this  earth  we  need,  but 
the  light  that  comes  from  above." 

"Iss,  iss,"  Sadrach  the  Small  said. 
"  The  true  light.  The  light  the  Big  Man 
puts  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  believe, 
dear  me." 

"  Well  spoken,  Sadrach  the  Small.  Now 
be  you  all  silent  awhile,  for  I  have  things 
of  great  import  to  tell  you.  Heard  you 
all  my  prayer  ?  " 

"  Iss,  iss,"  said  Sadrach  the  Small. 

"  Sadrach  the  Small  only  answers.  My 
6 


A   FATHER    IN   SIGN 


children,  heard  you  all  my  prayer  ?  Don't 
you  be  blockheads  now — speak  out." 

"  There's  lovely  it  was,"  said  Sadrach 
the  Small. 

"  My  children  ?  "  said  Sadrach. 

"  Iss,  iss,"  they  answered. 

"Well,  well,  then.  How  can  I  tell 
you  ?  '  Sadrach  put  his  fingers  through 
the  thin  beard  which  covered  the  opening 
of  his  waistcoat,  closed  his  eyes,  and  mur- 
mured a  prayer.  "  Your  mother  Achsah 
is  not  what  she  should  be.  Indeed  to 
goodness,  now,  what  disgrace  this  is !  Is 
it  not  breaking  my  heart  ?  You  did  hear 
how  I  said  to  the  nice  Big  Man  that  I  was 
like  Job  ?  Achsah  is  mad." 

Rachel  sobbed. 

*  Weep  you  not,  Rachel.  It  is  not  for 
us  to  question  the  all-wise  ways  of  the 
Big  Man.  Do  you  dry  your  eyes  on  your 
apron  now,  my  daughter.  You,  too,  have 
your  mother's  eyes.  Let  me  weep  in  my 
solitude.  Oh,  what  sin  have  I  committed, 

7 


MY   PEOPLE 


that   God  should  visit   this   affliction  on 
me?" 

Rachel  went  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs. 

"Mam!  "she  called. 

"She  will  not  hear  you,"  Sadrach  inter- 
rupted. "  Dear  me,  have  I  not  put  her 
in  the  harness  loft  ?  It  is  not  respectable 
to  let  her  out.  Twm  Tybach  would 
have  sent  his  wife  to  the  madhouse  of 
Carmarthen.  But  that  is  not  Christian. 
Rachel,  Rachel,  dry  your  eyes.  It  is  not 
your  fault  that  Achsah  is  mad.  Nor  do  I 
blame  Sadrach  the  Small,  nor  Esau,  nor 
Simon,  nor  Sarah,  nor  Daniel,  nor  Samuel, 
nor  Miriam.  Goodly  names  have  I  given 
you  all.  Live  you  up  to  them.  Still,  my 
sons  and  daughters,  are  you  not  all  re- 
sponsible for  Achsah's  condition  ?  With 
the  birth  of  each  of  you  she  has  got  worse 
and  worse.  Child-bearing  has  made  her 
foolish.  Yet  it  is  un-Christian  to  blame 
you." 

Sadrach  placed  his  head  in  his  arms. 
8 


A  FATHER    IN   SIGN 


Sadrach  the  Small  took  the  lantern  and 
he  and  Esau  departed  for  their  bed  over 
the  stable;  one  by  one  the  remaining  six 
put  off  their  clogs  and  crept  up  the 
narrow  staircase  to  their  beds. 

Wherefore  to  her  husband  Achsah  be- 
came as  a  cross,  to  her  children  as  one  for- 
gotten, to  every  one  living  in  Manteg  and 
in  the  several  houses  scattered  on  the 
banks  of  Avon  Bern  as  Achsah  the  mad- 
woman. 

The  next  day  Sadrach  removed  the  har- 
ness to  the  room  in  the  dwelling-house  in 
which  slept  the  four  youngest  children  ; 
and  he  put  a  straw  mattress  and  a  straw 
pillow  on  the  floor,  and  on  the  mattress 
he  spread  three  sacks ;  and  these  were  the 
furnishings  of  the  loft  where  Achsah  spent 
her  time.  The  frame  of  the  small  window 
in  the  roof  he  nailed  down,  after  fixing  on 
the  outside  of  it  three  solid  bars  of  iron 
of  uniform  thickness;  the  trap-door  he 
padlocked,  and  the  key  of  the  lock  never 

9 


MY   PEOPLE 


left  his  possession.  Achsah's  food  he  him- 
self carried  to  her  twice  a  day,  a  procedure 
which  until  the  coming  of  Martha  some 
time  later  he  did  not  entrust  to  other 
hands. 

Once  a  week  when  the  household  was 
asleep  he  placed  a  ladder  from  the  floor 
to  the  loft,  and  cried : 

"  Achsah,  come  you  down  now." 

Meekly  the  woman  obeyed,  and  as  her 
feet  touched  the  last  rung  Sadrach  threw  a 
cow's  halter  over  her  shoulders,  and  drove 
her  out  into  the  fields  for  an  airing. 

Once,  when  the  moon  was  full,  the  pair 
was  met  by  Lloyd  the  Schooling  and  the 
sight  caused  Mishtir  Lloyd  to  run  like  a 
frightened  dog,  telling  one  of  the  women 
of  his  household  that  Achsah,  the  mad- 
woman, had  eyes  like  a  cow's. 

At  the  time  of  her  marriage  Achsah  was 

ten  years  older  than  her  husband.     She 

was  rich,  too:     Danyrefail,  with  its  stock 

of  good  cattle  and  a  hundred  acres  of  fair 

10 


A  FATHER   IN  SIGN 


land,  was  her  gift  to  the  bridegroom.  Six 
months  after  the  wedding  Sadrach  the 
Small  was  born.  Tongues  wagged  that  the 
boy  was  a  child  of  sin.  Sadrach  answered 
neither  yea  nor  nay.  He  answered  neither 
yea  nor  nay  until  the  first  Communion 
Sabbath,  when  he  seized  the  bread  and 
wine  from  Old  Shemmi  and  walked  to  the 
Big  Seat.  He  stood  under  the  pulpit, 
the  fringe  of  the  minister's  Bible-marker 
curling  on  the  bald  patch  on  his  head. 

"  Dear  people,"  he  proclaimed,  the 
silver-plated  wine  cup  in  one  hand,  the 
bread  plate  in  the  other,  "  it  has  been  said 
to  me  that  some  of  you  think  Sadrach 
the  Small  was  born  out  of  sin.  You  do 
not  speak  truly.  Achsah,  dear  me,  was 
frightened  by  the  old  bull.  The  bull 
I  bought  in  the  September  fair.  You, 
Shemmi,  you  know  the  animal.  The  red- 
and-white  bull.  Well,  well,  dear  people, 
Achsah  was  shocked  by  him.  She  was 
running  away  from  him,  and  as  she  crossed 
11 


MY  PEOPLE 


the  threshold  of  Danyrefail,  did  she  not 
give  birth  to  Sadrach  the  Small  ?  Do 
you  believe  me  now,  dear  people.  As  the 
Lord  liveth,  this  is  the  truth.  Achsah, 
Achsah.  stand  you  up  now,  and  say  you  to 
the  congregation  if  this  is  not  right." 

Achsah,  the  babe  suckling  at  her  breast, 
rose  and  murmured  : 

"  Sadrach  speaks  the  truth." 

Sadrach  ate  of  the  bread  and  drank  of 
the  wine. 

Three  months  after  Achsah  had  been 
put  in  the  loft  Sadrach  set  out  at  daybreak 
on  a  journey  to  Aberystwith.  He  re- 
turned late  at  night,  and,  behold,  a  strange 
woman  sat  beside  him  in  the  horse  car ; 
and  the  coming  of  this  strange  woman  made 
life  different  in  Danyrefail.  Early  in  the 
day  she  was  astir,  bustling  up  the  children, 
bidding  them  fetch  the  cows,  assist  with 
the  milking,  feed  the  pigs,  or  do  whatever 
work  was  in  season. 

Rachel  rebuked  Sadrach,  saying,  "  Little 
12 


A   FATHER    IN  SIGN 


father,  why  for  cannot  I  manage  the  house 
for  you  ?  Indeed  now,  you  have  given  to 
Martha  the  position  that  belongs  to  me, 
your  eldest  daughter." 

"  What  mean  you,  my  dear  child  ?  " 
returned  Sadrach.  "  Cast  you  evil  at  your 
father  ?  Turn  you  against  him  ?  Go 
you  and  read  your  Commandments." 

"  People  are  whispering,"  said  Rachel. 
"They  do  even  say  that  you  will  not  be 
among  the  First  Men  of  the  Big  Seat." 

"  Martha  is  a  gift  from  the  Big  Man," 
answered  Sadrach.  "  She  has  been  sent 
to  comfort  me  in  my  tribulation,  and  to 
mother  you,  my  children." 

"  Mother  !  " 

"  Tut,  tut,  Rachel,"  said  Sadrach,  "  Mar- 
tha is  only  a  servant  in  my  house." 

Rachel  knew  that  Martha  was  more  than 
a  servant.  Had  not  her  transfer  letter  been 
accepted  by  Capel  Sion,  and  did  she  not 
occupy  Achsah's  seat  in  the  family  pew  ? 
Did  she  not,  when  it  was  Sadrach's  turn  to 
13 


MY   PEOPLE 


keep  the  minister's  month,  herself  on  each 
of  the  four  Saturdays  take  a  basket  laden 
with  a  chicken,  two  white-hearted  cab- 
bages, a  peck  of  potatoes,  a  loaf  of  bread, 
and  half  a  pound  of  butter  to  the  chapel 
house  of  Capel  Sion  ?  Did  she  not  drive 
with  Sadrach  to  market  and  fair  and  barter 
for  his  butter  and  cheese  and  cattle  and 
what  not  ?  Did  she  not  tell  Ellen  the 
Weaver's  Widow  what  cloth  to  weave  for 
the  garments  of  the  children  of  Achsah  ? 

These  things  Martha  did  ;  and  Danyre- 
fail  prospered  exceedingly  :  its  possessions 
spread  even  to  the  other  side  of  Avon  Bern. 
Sadrach  declared  in  the  Seiet  that  the 
Lord  was  heaping  blessings  on  the  head 
of  His  servant.  Of  all  who  worshipped  in 
Sion  none  was  stronger  than  the  male  of 
Danyrefail ;  none  more  respected.  The 
congregation  elected  him  to  the  Big  Seat. 
Sadrach  was  a  tower  of  strength  unto 
Sion. 

But  in  the  wake  of  his  prosperity  lay 
14 


A   FATHER    IN   SIGN 


vexation.  Rachel  developed  fits ;  while 
hoeing  turnips  in  the  twilight  of  an  after- 
noon she  shivered  and  fell,  her  head  rest- 
ing in  the  water  ditch  that  is  alongside 
the  hedge.  In  the  morning  Sadrach  came 
that  way  with  a  load  of  manure. 

"  Rachel  fach,"  he  said,  "  wake  you  up 
now.  What  will  Martha  say  if  you  get 
ill  ?  " 

He  passed  on. 

When  he  came  back  Rachel  had  not 
moved,  and  Sadrach  drove  away,  without 
noticing  the  small  pool  of  water  which  had 
gathered  over  the  girl's  head.  Within 
an  hour  he  came  again,  and  said : 

"  Rachel,  Rachel,  wake  you  up.  There's 
lazy  you  are." 

Rachel  was  silent.  Death  had  come 
before  the  milking  of  the  cows.  Sad- 
rach went  to  the  end  of  the  field  and 
emptied  his  cart  of  the  manure.  Then 
he  turned  and  cast  Rachel's  body  into 
the  cart,  and  covered  it  with  a  sack,  and 
15 


MY   PEOPLE 


drove    home,    singing   the    hymn    which 
begins : 

"Safely,  safely  gather'd  in, 
Far  from  sorrow,  far  from  sin, 
No  more  childish  griefs  or  fears, 
No  more  sadness,  no  more  tears ; 
For  the  life  so  young  and  fair 
Now  hath  passed  from  earthly  care ; 
God  Himself  the  soul  will  keep, 
Giving  His  beloved — sleep." 

Esau  was  kicked  by  a  horse,  and  was 
hurt  to  his  death;  six  weeks  later  Simon 
gashed  his  thumb  while  slicing  mangolds, 
and  he  died.  Two  years  went  by,  by 
the  end  of  which  period  Old  lanto,  the 
gravedigger  of  Capel  Sion,  dug  three  more 
graves  for  the  children  of  Sadrach  and 
Achsah ;  and  over  these  graves  Sadrach 
and  Martha  lamented. 

But  Sadrach  the  Small  brought  glad- 
ness and  cheer  to  Danyrefail  with  the 
announcement  of  his  desire  to  wed  Sara 
Ann,  the  daughter  of  Old  Shemmi. 
Martha  and  Sadrach  agreed  to  the 
16 


A  FATHER    IN   SIGN 


union  provided  Old  Shemmi  gave  to  his 
daughter  a  stack  of  hay,  a  cow  in  calf,  a 
heifer,  a  quantity  of  bedclothes,  and  four 
cheeses.  Old  Shemmi,  on  his  part,  de- 
manded with  Sadrach  the  Small  ten 
sovereigns,  a  horse  and  a  cart,  and  a 
bedstead. 

The  night  before  the  wedding  Sadrach 
drove  Achsah  into  the  fields,  and  he  told 
her  how  the  Big  Man  had  looked  with 
good-will  upon  Sadrach  the  Small,  and 
was  giving  him  Sara  Ann  to  wife. 

What  occurred  in  the  loft  over  the  cow- 
shed before  dawn  crept  in  through  the 
window  with  the  iron  bars  I  cannot  tell 
you.  God  can.  But  the  rising  sun  found 
Achsah  crouching  behind  one  of  the  hedges 
of  the  lane  that  brings  you  from  Dany- 
refail  to  the  tramping  road,  and  there 
she  stayed,  her  eyes  peering  through  the 
foliage,  until  the  procession  came  by  : 
first  Old  Shemmi  and  Sadrach,  with  Sa- 
drach the  Small  between  them ;  then  the 
C  17 


MY   PEOPLE 


minister  of  Capel  Sion  and  his  wife  ;  then 
the  men  and  the  women  of  the  congrega- 
tion; and  last  came  Martha  and  Sara 
Ann. 

The  party  disappeared  round  the  bend  : 
Achsah  remained. 

"Goodness  me,"  she  said  to  herself. 
"  There's  a  large  mistake  now.  Indeed, 
indeed,  mad  am  I." 

She  hurried  to  the  gateway,  crossed  the 
road  and  entered  another  field,  through 
which  she  ran  as  hard  as  she  could.  She 
came  to  a  hedge,  and  waited. 

The  procession  was  passing. 

Sadrach  and  Sadrach  the  Small. 

Achsah  doubled  a  finger. 

Among  those  who  followed  on  the  heels 
of  the  minister  was  Miriam. 

Achsah  doubled  another  finger. 

The  party  moved  out  of  sight :  Achsah 
still  waited. 

"  Sadrach  the  Small  and  Miriam  I  "  she 
said,  spreading  out  her  doubled-up  fingers. 
18 


A  FATHER   IN   SIGN 


'Two.  Others?  Esau.  Simon.  Rachel. 
Sarah.  Daniel.  Samuel.  Dear  me,  where 
shall  I  say  they  are  ?  Six.  Six  of  my 
children.  Mad,  mad  am  I  ?  "  .  .  .  She 
laughed.  "  They  are  grown,  and  I  didn't 
know  them." 

Achsah  waited  the  third  time  for 
the  wedding  procession.  This  time  she 
scanned  each  face,  but  only  in  the  faces 
of  Sadrach  the  Small  and  Miriam  did  she 
recognise  her  own  children.  She  threw 
herself  on  the  grass.  Esau  and  Simon  and 
Rachel,  and  Sarah  and  Daniel  and  Samuel. 
She  remembered  the  circumstances  attend- 
ing the  birth  of  each.  .  .  .  And  she  had 
been  a  good  wife.  Never  once  did  she  deny 
Sadrach  his  rights.  So  long  as  she  lasted 
she  was  a  woman  to  him. 

"  Sadrach  the  Small  and  Miriam,"  she 
said. 

She  rose  and  went  to  the  graveyard.  She 
came  to  the  earth  under  which  are  Essec 
and  Shan,  Sadrach's  father  and  mother, 

19 


MY   PEOPLE 


and  at  a  distance  of  the  space  of  one  grave 
from  theirs  were  the  graves  of  six  of  the 
children  born  of  Sadrach  and  Achsah. 
She  parted  the  hair  that  had  fallen  over 
her  face,  and  traced  with  her  fingers  the 
letters  which  formed  the  names  of  each 
of  her  six  children. 

•  •  •  •  • 

As  Sara  Ann  crossed  the  threshold  of 
Danyrefail,  and  as  she  set  her  feet  on  the 
flagstone  on  which  Sadrach  the  Small  is 
said  to  have  been  born,  the  door  of  the 
parlour  was  opened  and  a  lunatic  em- 
braced her. 


A  HEIFER  WITHOUT  BLEMISH 


21 


II 

A  HEIFER  WITHOUT  BLEMISH 

DEIO  and  Katto  Parcdu  had  been  enter- 
taining Job  of  the  Stallion.  Having  made 
an  end  to  eating,  and  Job  and  his  stallion 
having  taken  to  the  road,  Deio  lifted  his 
voice  : 

"  Tomos,  come  you  in  here  now." 

Tomos  passed  over  the  earthen  floor 
of  the  kitchen,  and  discarded  his  clogs  on 
the  threshold  of  the  lower  end,  which  is  the 
parlour. 

"  Job  of  the  old  Stallion  does  say  that 
Enoch  Dinas  has  taken  a  farm  near  the 
shore  of  Morfa,"  said  Deio. 

"  Indeed,  now,  there's  a  daft  boy  bach  I  " 
exclaimed  Tomos.  "  What  say  you  does 
23 


MY   PEOPLE 


Enoch  want  to  do  that  for  !    Sure  me, 
Dinas  is  as  much  as  he  can  manage." 

"  Is   not   that   what   Job   did    say  ?  ' 
spoke  Katto. 

"  Dinas  is  a  fairish  farm,"  said  Deio. 
"  Out  of  his  old  head  is  Enoch  to  leave  it." 

"  Sad  is  Enoch's  lot,"  said  Katto.  "  A 
high  female  is  his  wife.  And  an  unprofit- 
able madam  is  the  female." 

"  Iss,  iss,"  said  Deio.  "  She  is  a  burden 
on  the  place.  Where  is  the  sense  now  in 
Enoch  keeping  a  wife  and  a  servant  ?  ' 

"Enoch  is  head-stiff,"  said  Katto. 
"  Did  not  every  one  tell  him  before  he 
married  that  he  would  have  to  keep  a 
servant  ?  For  why,  dear  me,  did  the  iob 
marry  such  a  useless  woman  ?  What  is 
the  matter  with  the  female  ?  She  brought 
with  her  nothing  to  Dinas." 

11  Look  you  at  the  wife  of  Tydu,"  said 
Deio  gravely.  "  Isn't  she  a  sampler  ?  ' 

44  She's  as  useful  as  a  male  about  the 
place,"  added  Katto.     "  And  she  works 
24 


A   HEIFER   WITHOUT   BLEMISH 

like  a  black  bach.  And  Evan  her  hus- 
band is  always  in  his  place  in  the  meeting 
for  prayer." 

"  Religion  comes  before  all  with  Evan," 
said  Deio. 

"  Large  money  indeed  he  puts  in  the 
Post  Office,"  Katto  went  on.  "  Mistress 
Morgan  of  the  Post  does  say  that  he's  got 
thirty  yellow  sovereigns  there  now.  What 
pity  Tomos  cannot  find  a  woman  like  her." 

Tomos  came  near  to  the  round  table, 
and  bending  his  crooked  body,  spat  into 
the  fire. 

"  Think  you  now  of  Sara  Jane  the 
daughter  of  old  Simon "  he  began. 

"  Boy  bach  foolish  !  "  cried  Katto. 
"  What  nonsense  you  talk  out  of  the  back 
of  your  head !  Sober  serious,  mouth  not 
that  you  have  thrown  gravel  at  Sara 
Jane's  window  I  She's  not  worth  her 
broth." 

"  Katto  is  right,"  Deio  put  in.    "  There 
was  me  and  Katto  talking  about  renting 
25 


MY   PEOPLE 


Dinas  for  you  if  you  could  find  a  thrifty, 
tidy  female." 

"  How  voice  you  then  about  Gwen 
the  widow  of  Noah  ? "  asked  Tomos. 
"  There's  a  one  she  is  for  tending  to  the 
house  !  " 

"  You  would  have  to  pay  her,'*  said 
Deio.  "It  is  not  some  one  to  look  after 
the  house  you  want.  You  need  a  woman 
to  look  after  the  land,  and  the  cattle, 
and  your  milk,  man.  And  after  you.  A 
woman  who  will  be  profitable.  Sara  Jane, 
indeed!  No,  boy  bach,  don't  you  deal 
lightly  with  Old  Simon's  wench.  Not 
respectable  is  that  to  Capel  Sion." 

"  Your  father  speaks  sense,  Tomos 
nice,"  said  Katto.  "It's  time  you 
wedded.  Do  you  look  round  you  for  one 
like  the  wife  of  Tydu.  Is  she  not  tidy  and 
saving  ?  Was  she  not  carting  dung  into 
the  field  when  she  was  full  ?  You  will  be 
five  over  forty  in  the  eleventh  month." 

Deio  took  out  from  his  mouth  the 
26 


A   HEIFER   WITHOUT   BLEMISH 

tobacco  that  was  therein  and  placed  it  on 
the  table,  and  he  also  emptied  his  mouth 
of  its  tainted  spittle.  "Be  you  restful  now, 
folk  bach,"  he  said,  "  for  am  I  not  going  to 
speak  about  religion?"  Then  he  raised 
his  face  and  sang  after  the  manner  of 
the  Welsh  preacher :  "Me  and  your  mam 
are  full  of  years,  and  the  hearse  from 
Capel  Sion  will  soon  take  us  home  to  the 
Big  Man's  Palace — a  home,  Tomos,  where 
we  will  wear  White  Shirts,  and  where 
there  is  no  old  rent  to  pay.  Tomos, 
Tomos,  weepful  you  will  be  when  I  am 
up  above.  Little  Great  One,  keep  an 
eye  on  Tomos.  Be  with  your  son  in 
Capel  Sion.  Amen." 

When  he  had  made  an  end,  he  put  the 
tobacco  back  into  his  mouth,  and  he  said  : 
"  One  hundred  and  half  a  hundred  sove- 
reigns is  the  mortgage  on  Parcdu  now." 

"  Do  you  listen,  Tomos  bach,"  Katto 
counselled  her  son. 

• 

"  Go  you  off  yourself  to-morrow  to  the 

27 


MY   PEOPLE 


April  Fair  to  search  for  a  woman,"  said 
Deio. 

Tomos  said  :    "  Iss,  iss,  indeed,  then." 

"  And  take  you  a  cask  of  butter  with 
you,"  said  Katto.  "  Leave  you  the  butter 
in  the  back  of  the  old  trap  till  your  eyes 
have  fallen  upon  a  maid ;  and  when  she 
has  found  favour  with  you,  ask  her  to 
sell  for  you  the  butter.  If  she  has  got  a 
sharp  tongue  in  her  mouth  and  makes  a 
good  bargain,  say  to  her  that  you  will 
marry  her,  but  if  she  is  not  free  of  tongue, 
say  you  nothing  more  to  her,  but  go  in 
search  of  another." 

Deio  spoke  :  "  Tell  her  your  father  sits 
in  the  Big  Seat  in  Sion,  in  the  parish  of 
Troedfawr,  in  Shire  Cardigan.  As  earnest 
of  your  intention  say  that  you  are  com- 
manded to  buy  a  heifer  to  start  life  with 
in  Dinas.  Now,  little  son,  don't  you  say 
anything  about  the  old  mortgage." 

Tomos  promised  to  observe  his  father's 
instructions. 

28 


A   HEIFER   WITHOUT   BLEMISH 

"  Get  you  there  early  in  the  morning, 
then,"  his  father  said  to  him.  "Put 
the  black  mare  in  the  car.  And,  Tomos, 
don't  you  give  a  ride  to  anybody,  for  fear 
those  old  robbers  of  excisemen  will  catch 
you." 

"  Make  yourself  comely,"  said  Katto. 
"  And  when  you  get  there,  put  out  your 
belly  largely.  See  too  that  you  get  a 
heifer  without  blemish." 

Tomos  shaved  his  chin  and  his  long  upper 
lip  and  combed  his  side  whiskers,  and  he 
put  axle-grease  on  his  boots,  and  clothed 
himself  in  his  Sabbath  garments  of  home- 
spun cloth  ;  and  harnessing  the  black  mare 
to  the  car,  in  the  back  of  which  he  placed 
a  cask  full  of  butter,  he  set  out  for  the  Fair 
of  the  month  of  April.  Tomos  got  out  of 
the  car  at  Penrhiw,  as  the  ascent  therefrom 
into  Castellybryn  is  rocky  and  steep,  and 
guided  the  mare  by  the  bridle.  At  the 
foot  of  the  hill — this  morning  a  street 
of  many  people  and  much  cattle — he 
29 


MY   PEOPLE 


turned    into    the    yard    of   the    Drivers' 
Arms. 

"  Fair  morning,  Tomos  the  son  of 
Deio,"  said  the  ostler  of  the  Drivers'  Arms 
to  him. 

"  Say  you  have  an  empty  stall,  little 
son  ?  "  Tomos  asked. 

44  Surely." 

"  Fair  morning,  Tomos.  How  was 
you,  man  ?  And  how  was  your  old 
father  ?  " 

Tomos  turned  round  and  looked  into 
the  face  of  Job  of  the  Stallion. 

"  Quite  well,  thanks  be  to  you,  Job 
bach." 

44  What's  your  errand,  boy  bach  ?  Old 
Deio  your  father  did  not  say  anything  the 
day  before  to-day." 

Job,  his  small  feet  planted  close  together 
underneath  his  bandy  legs,  gazed  reproach- 
fully at  Tomos. 

44  Well— well,"  said  Tomos,  44  am  I  not 
selling  a  cask  of  butter,  man  ?  " 
30 


A   HEIFER   WITHOUT   BLEMISH 

"  There's  excuse  for  you  now,  dear  me  ; 
old  Katto  must  be  mad  to  send  you  with 
a  cask  of  butter  to  the  fair.  Now,  now, 
Tomos,  do  you  mouth  to  me  then  your 
errand  quick  at  once." 

"  For  what  you  don't  know  that  Dinas 
is  going,  man?"  replied  Tomos. 

"But,  Tomos,  why  act  so  foolish  ?  Was 
not  me  that  told  old  Deio  about  it  ?  " 

"  Of  course.  Father  wants  me  to  take 
it." 

"  Little  Tomos,  do  you  speak  plainly. 
I  am  not  curious,  but  what  in  the  name  of 
goodness  are  you  doing  here?  Be  you 
immediate,  for  have  I  not  a  lot  of  busi- 
ness to  do  ?  5: 

"  Job  of  the  Stallion,  why  you  are  so 
hasty  for,  man?  Look  you,  indeed,  I  am 
come  for  a  wife." 

Job  pouted  his  lips  reprovingly,  and  he 
squeezed  the  large,  cracked  mole  which 
was  between  his  eyebrows  with  forefinger 
and  thumb. 

31 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  I  blame  you,  Tomos,  for  being  so 
secret  about  your  affairs." 

He  thought. 

"  Dango  !  ':  he  exclaimed.  "  There's 
Nell  Blaenffos.  Do  you  know  Nell, 
Tomos  ?  " 

"  Nell  Blaenffos  ?  " 

"You  are  as  stupid  as  a  frog,  man. 
BlaenffoS:  Near  Henllan.  Nell  the 
daughter  of  Sam." 

"  Is  she  a  tidy  wench  ?  " 

"  For  why  you  make  me  savage,  Tomos  ? 
Nell  is  Sam's  only  child.  She  is  here  with 
her  old  father  paying  off  the  last  of  the 
mortgage." 

Job  shouted  across  the  yard  into  the 
inn  :  "  Is  Nell  Blaenffos  there  ?  " 

"  Dammo  !  "  came  the  reply.  "  She 
was  here  this  one  minute.  Nell  Blaenffos  ! 
Nell  Blaenffos  !  " 

Many  voices  repeated  the  call.  They 
cried  :  "  Nell  Blaenffos  !  Nell  Blaenffos  ! 
Job  of  the  Stallion  wants  you." 

32 


A   HEIFER   WITHOUT   BLEMISH 

The  cry  was  taken  up  by  folk  standing 
on  the  doorstep,  and  it  reached  a  group  of 
men  and  women  gossiping  in  the  middle 
of  the  roadway.  "  Nell  fach,"  said  one  of 
the  group,  "  is  not  old  Job  of  the  Stallion 
needing  you  ?  ' 

**  For  shame  !  "  observed  a  ponderous- 
waisted  woman.  "  What  for  you  are 
thinking  ?  For  shame,  Nell  Blaenffos  !  " 

The  people  laughed. 

"  Go  you,  little  daughter,"  said  the 
large  woman,  "  and  see  what  that  old  Job 
needs  you  for." 

Nell — stout  and  red  of  face,  and  puffing 
— appeared  before  Job,  and  Job  informed 
her  that  Tomos  begotten  of  Deio  Parcdu 
(this  Deio  being  the  strongest  farmer  in  the 
parish  of  Troedfawr,  and  the  saintliest 
man  in  the  Big  Seat  in  Capel  Sion)  was 
desirous  of  taking  her  into  his  bed. 

Tomos  nodded  his  head,  and  said  : 
"  Iss — iss.  How  was  you,  Nell  fach  ?  " 

Nell  proved  him  with  questions. 
D  33 


MY   PEOPLE 


Job  took  Tomos  to  a  corner  in  the  yard, 
and  held  a  whispered  conversation  with 
him  ;  returning  he  told  Nell  that  Dinas, 
a  farm  of  sixty  acres,  was  to  be  let,  that 
Deio  was  prepared  to  perform  his  share  in 
stocking  the  farm,  that  as  earnest  of  this 
Tomos  was  authorised  that  day  to  buy  a 
heifer  for  Dinas. 

"  You  see,  Nell  fach,  that  you  will  have 
to  be  quick,  or  else  the  best  cattle  will  be 
sold,"  said  Job. 

""  Dear,  dear,  now,"  said  Tomos,  "  I 
had  forgotten  the  old  cask  of  butter  I 
have  to  sell." 

"  There,  indeed  !  "  said  Job.  "  Go  off 
you  two  together  and  sell  the  cask  and 
talk  this  thing  over.  Remember  when 
you  settle  down  in  Dinas  that  my  Stallion 
bach  is  to  serve  your  first  mare.  Thus 
you  will  pay  me  for  this." 

Tomos  lifted  the  cask   out  of  the   car 
and  placed  it  on  Nell's  shoulder,  and  he 
followed  Nell  to  the  place  where  butter 
34 


A   HEIFER   WITHOUT   BLEMISH 

merchants  assemble.  One  dealer  came 
and  offered  tenpence  three-farthings  a 
pound  ;  for  him  Nell  refused  to  remove 
even  the  cloth  from  the  mouth  of  the  cask. 
Another  came  and  offered  tenpence  half- 
penny; in  reply  to  him  Nell  said:  "Go 
your  way,  you  fool.  You  would  rob 
me  pure."  Now  the  dealer  was  a  young 
man,  who  did  not  know  the  ways  of 
Castellybryn,  and  he  was  aware  that 
the  first  dealer  was  a  big  buyer  and  a 
cunning  bargainer ;  so  he  purchased  the 
butter  for  elevenpence  farthing  a  pound, 
being  a  farthing  a  pound  above  the 
market  price  of  that  day. 

Tomos  took  the  money  and  tied  his 
handkerchief  over  it,  and  he  bought  a 
penny  cake,  and  while  he  was  eating  it  he 
said  to  Nell : 

"  How  speak  you  about  Dinas  ?  " 

"  Is  the  land  well  watered  ? "  asked 
Nell. 

"  Iss,  indeed." 

35 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  Is  there  water  in  the  close  ?  " 

"  Well,  well,  not  in  the  close,  Nell  fach, 
but  at  the  bottom  of  the  field  under  the 
house." 

"Mouth  you  now  about  the  out- 
houses." 

"  Enoch  had  a  new  roof  put  over  the 
stable  when  he  went  there  four  years  ago." 

"  How  much  money  has  your  father 
Deio  got  ?  " 

"  Now  you've  asked  me  a  puzzle,  Nell 
fach.  I  don't  know,  for  sure !  " 

"  Is  Parcdu  his  ?  " 

"  Indeed  it  is." 

"  Is  it  mortgaged  ?  " 

*'  Not  for  a  red  penny,  Nell  Blaenffos." 

"  How  many  brothers  and  sisters  have 
you  got  ?  " 

"  Not  one,  Nell  fach." 

"  Come  you  back  with  me  to  the 
Drivers'  and  mouth  to  old  father." 

Sam  Blaenffos  had  already  seen  Job  of 
the  Stallion  and  had  conversed  with  him, 

36 


A   HEIFER   WITHOUT   BLEMISH 

and  he  had  been  told  nothing  except  that 
which  was  good  about  Deio  Parcdu  and 
his  son  Tomos. 

"  When  is  the  wedding  to  be,  little 
son  ?  "  Sam  asked  Tomos. 

"  What  say  you  now  ?  ' 

"  There's  plenty  of  time  to  discuss 
that,"  said  Sam.  "Tell  you  old  Deio  to 
meet  me  here  next  market  day,  and  we 
will  arrange  matters." 

"  I  will  indeed,  man,"  replied  Tomos. 

"  Good-bye  now,  and  good-bye  to  your 
father  as  well,"  said  Sam. 

Tomos  turned  his  back  on  the  Drivers' 
Arms,  and  on  Nell  Blaenffos,  and  on  the 
father  of  Nell  Blaenffos,  and  with  a  hand 
in  the  pocket  of  his  coat  and  a  hand  in  the 
pocket  of  his  trousers  he  moved  slowly 
in  and  out  among  the  cattle.  The  fingers 
of  the  clock  over  the  door  of  the  surgery 
of  Dr.  Morgan  pointed  to  fifteen  minutes 
past  ten,  wherefore  Tomos  bent  his  shoul- 
ders and  rebuked  himself : 
37 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  The  morning  is  far  spent.  And 
there's  a  small  bit  of  work  I've  done !  " 

When  he  came  that  way  again  the 
fingers  of  the  clock  pointed  to  twenty-five 
minutes  past  five  in  the  afternoon,  and 
there  was  a  pleasing  smile  in  his  face,  for 
was  he  not  leading  on  a  halter  a  heifer 
without  blemish  ? 


88 


THE    WAY    OF    THE    EARTH 


Ill 

THE    WAY    OF    THE    EARTH 

SIMON  and  Beca  are  waiting  for  Death. 
The  ten  acres  of  land  over  Penrhos — their 
peat-thatched  cottage  under  the  edge  of 
the  moor — grows  wilder  and  weedier.  For 
Simon  and  Beca  can  do  nothing  now. 
Often  the  mood  comes  on  the  broken,  help- 
less old  man  to  speak  to  his  daughter  of 
the  only  thing  that  troubles  him. 

"  When  the  time  comes,  Sara  Jane 
fach,"  he  says,  "  don't  you  hire  the  old 
hearse.  Go  you  down  to  Dai  the  son  of 
Mali,  and  Isaac  the  Cobbler,  and  Dennis 
the  larger  servant  of  Dan,  and  Twm 
Tybach,  and  mouth  you  like  this  to  them : 
*  Jasto,  now,  my  little  father  Simon  has 
gone  to  wear  the  White  Shirt  in  the  Palace. 

41 


MY   PEOPLE 


Come  you  then  and  carry  him  on  your 
shoulders  nice  into  Sion.' : 

"Yea,  Sara  fach,"  Beca  says,  "and 
speak  you  to  Lias  the  Carpenter  that  you 
will  give  no  more  than  ten  over  twenty 
shillings  for  the  coffin." 

Simon  adds  :  "  If  we  perish  together, 
make  you  one  coffin  serve." 

Neither  Simon  nor  Beca  has  further 
use  for  life.  Paralysis  shattered  the  old 
man  the  day  of  Sara  Jane's  wedding ;  the 
right  side  of  his  face  sags,  and  he  is  lame 
on  both  his  feet.  Beca  is  blind,  and  she 
gropes  her  way  about.  Worse  than  all,  they 
stand  without  the  gates  of  Capel  Sion — the 
living  sin  of  all  the  land  :  they  were  married 
after  the  birth  of  Sara  Jane,  and  though 
in  the  years  of  their  passion  they  were 
all  that  a  man  and  woman  can  be  to  each 
other,  they  begat  no  children.  But  Sion, 
jealous  that  not  even  his  errant  sheep 
shall  lie  in  the  parish  graveyard  and  swell 
in  appearance  those  who  have  worshipped 
42 


THE   WAY   OF   THE   EARTH 


the  fripperies  of  the  heathen  Church,  will 
embrace  them  in  Death. 

The  land  attached  to  Penrhos  was 
changed  from  sterile  moorland  into  a 
fertile  garden  by  Simon  and  Beca.  Great 
toil  went  to  the  taming  of  these  ten  acres 
of  heather  into  the  most  fruitful  soil  in 
the  district.  Sometimes  now  Simon  drags 
himself  out  into  the  open  and  complains 
when  he  sees  his  garden ;  and  he  calls  Beca 
to  look  how  the  fields  are  going  back  to 
heatherland.  And  Beca  will  rise  from  her 
chair  and  feel  her  way  past  the  bed  which 
stands  against  the  wooden  partition,  and 
as  she  touches  with  her  right  hand  the 
ashen  post  that  holds  up  the  forehead 
of  the  house  she  knows  she  is  facing  the 
fields,  and  she  too  will  groan,  for  her 
strength  and  pride  are  mixed  with  the  soil. 

"  Sober  serious,  little  Simon,"  she  says, 
"  this  is  the  way  of  the  earth,  man  bach." 

But  she  means  that  it  is  the  way  of 
mortal  flesh  ...  of  her  daughter  Sara 
43 


MY   PEOPLE 


Jane,  who  will  no  longer  give  the  land  the 
labour  it  requires  to  keep  it  clean  and 
good.  Sara  Jane  has  more  than  she  can 
do  in  tending  to  her  five-year-old  twins 
and  her  dying  parents,  and  she  lets  the 
fields  pass  back  into  wild  moorland. 

In  the  days  of  his  sin  and  might  Simon 
had  been  the  useful  man  of  Manteg.  He 
was  careless  then  that  the  gates  of  Sion 
were  closed  against  him.  He  possessed 
himself  of  a  cart  and  horse,  and  became 
the  carrier  between  the  cartless  folk  of 
Manteg  and  the  townspeople  of  Castell- 
ybryn,  eight  miles  down  the  valley.  He 
and  Beca  saved ;  oil  lamp  nor  candle 
never  lit  up  their  house,  and  they  did  not 
spend  money  on  coal  because  peat  was  to 
be  lifted  just  beyond  their  threshold.  They 
stinted  themselves  in  halfpennies,  gathered 
the  pennies  till  they  amounted  to  shillings, 
put  the  silver  in  a  box  till  they  had  five 
sovereigns'  worth  of  it,  and  this  sum 
Simon  took  to  the  bank  in  Castellybryn 


THE   WAY    OF   THE   EARTH 


on  his  next  carrier's  journey.  They  looked 
to  the  time  their  riches  would  triumph  over 
even  Sion  and  so  open  for  them  the  gates 
of  the  temple. 

As  soon  as  the  Schoolin'  allowed  her  to 
leave  the  Board  School,  Sara  Jane  was 
made  to  help  Beca  in  all  the  farm  work, 
thus  enabling  Simon  to  devote  himself 
almost  entirely  to  his  neighbours.  The 
man  was  covetous,  and  there  were  mur- 
murings  that  strange  sheaves  of  wheat  were 
threshed  on  his  floor,  that  his  pigs  fattened 
on  other  people's  meal. 

In  accordance  with  the  manner  of 
labouring  women  Sara  Jane  wore  clogs 
which  had  iron  rims  beneath  them,  grey 
stockings  of  coarse  wool  that  were  patched 
on  the  heels  and  legs  with  artless  darns, 
and  short  petticoats ;  in  all  seasons  her 
hands  were  chapped  and  ugly.  Still  with 
her  auburn  hair,  her  firm  breast,  and  her 
white  teeth,  she  was  the  desire  of  many. 
Farm  servants  ogled  her  in  public  places ; 
45 


MY   PEOPLE 


farmers'  sons  lay  in  wait  for  her  in  lonely 
places.  Men  spoke  to  her  frankly,  and 
with  counterfeit  smiles  in  their  faces ; 
Sara  Jane  answered  their  lustful  sayings 
with  lewd  laughter,  and  when  the  attack 
became  too  pressing  she  picked  up  her 
petticoats  and  ran  home.  Nor  was  she 
put  out  over  the  attentions  she  received  : 
she  was  well  favoured  and  she  liked  to  be 
desired  ;  and  in  the  twilight  of  an  evening 
her  full-bosomed,  ripe  beauty  struck 
Simon  suddenly  as  he  met  her  in  the 
close.  Her  eyes  were  dancing  with  de- 
light, and  her  breast  heaving.  Sadrach 
the  Small  had  chased  her  right  to 
Penrhos. 

Simon  and  Beca  discussed  this  that  had 
happened,  and  became  exceedingly  afraid 
for  her. 

"  There's  an  old  boy,  dear  me,  for  you 
indeed  !  "  said  Simon.  "  The  wench  fach 
is  four  over  twenty  now,  and  fretful  I 
feel." 

46 


THE   WAY   OF   THE    EARTH 


"  Iss,  iss,  Simon,"  said  Beca. 

"  If  she  was  wedded  now,  she  would  be 
out  of  harm." 

"  Wisdom  you  mouth,  Simon.  Good, 
serious  me,  to  get  her  a  male." 

"  How  say  you  then  about  Josi  Cwm- 
twrch  ?  " 

"  Clap  your  old  lips,  little  man.  Josi 
Cwmtwrch !  What  has  Josi  to  give  her  ? 
What  for  you  talk  about  Josi  ?  5: 

"  Well,  well,  then.  Tidy  wench  she  is, 
whatever.  And  when  we  go  she'll  have 
the  nice  little  yellow  sovereigns  in  the 
bank." 

Beca  interrupted  :  "  The  eggs  fetched 
three  and  ten  pennies.  Another  florin 
now,  Simon,  and  we've  got  five  yellow 
sovereigns." 

"  Don't  say  then  !  Pity  that  is.  Am  I 
not  taking  the  old  Schoolin's  pig  to  Castell- 
ybryn  on  Friday  too?  Went  you  to  all 
the  old  nests,  woman  fach  ?  " 

"  Iss,  man." 

47 


MY  PEOPLE 


"What  is  old  Rhys  giving  for  eggs 
now  ?  " 

"  Five  pennies  for  six.  Big  is  the  for- 
tune the  cheater  is  making." 

Beca  dropped  off  her  outer  petticoat  and 
drew  a  shawl  over  her  head,  and  she  got 
into  bed ;  an  hour  later  she  was  followed 
by  Simon.  In  the  morning  she  took  to 
Shop  Rhys  three  shillings'  worth  of  eggs. 

This  was  the  slack  period  between 
harvests,  and  Sara  Jane  went  with  Simon 
to  Castellybryn ;  and  while  Simon  was 
weighing  the  Schoolin's  pig  she  wandered 
hither  and  thither,  and  going  over  the 
bridge  which  spans  Avon  Teify  she  paused 
at  the  window  of  Jenkins  Shop  General, 
attracted  thereto  by  the  soaps  and  per- 
fumes that  were  displayed. 

"  How  you  are  ?  "  said  a  young  man 
at  her  side. 

"Man  bach,  what  for  you  fright  me?  "  said 
Sara  Jane.  She  was  moved  to  step  away, 
for  she  had  heard  read  that  the  corners 
48 


THE   WAY    OF   THE   EARTH 


of  streets  are  places  of  great  temptation. 
The  young  man — a  choice  young  man  and 
comely :  he  wore  spectacles,  had  the  front 
of  his  hair  trimmed  in  waves,  and  his 
moustaches  ended  in  thin  points — the 
young  man  seized  her  arm. 

"  Free  you  are,  boy  bach,"  Sara  Jane 
cried.  "  Go  you  on  now  !  " 

44  Come  you  in  and  take  a  small  peep  at 
my  shop,"  said  the  young  man.  .  .  . 

When  Sara  entered  her  father's  cart 
she  had  hidden  in  the  big  pocket  of  her 
under-petticoat  a  cake  of  scented  soap 
and  a  bottle  of  perfume. 

That  night  she  extracted  the  hobnails 
out  of  the  soles  of  her  Sabbath  boots.  That 
night  also  she  collected  the  eggs,  and  for 
every  three  she  gathered  she  concealed 
one.  This  she  did  for  two  more  days,  and 
the  third  day  she  purchased  a  blouse  in 
Shop  Rhys.  For  this  wastefulness  her 
parents'  wrath  was  kindled  against  her. 
The  next  Sunday  she  secretly  used  scented 
E  49 


MY   PEOPLE 


soap  on  her  face  and  hands  and  poured 
perfume  on  her  garments;  and  towards 
evening  she  traversed  to  the  gateway 
where  the  moorland  road  breaks  into  the 
tramping  way  which  takes  you  to  Morfa- 
on-the-Sea.  William  Jenkins  was  waiting 
for  her,  his  bicycle  against  the  hedge;  he 
was  cutting  the  letters  of  his  name  into 
the  gatepost.  On  the  fourth  night  Sara 
Jane  lay  awake  in  bed.  She  heard  the 
sound  of  gravel  falling  on  the  window- 
pane,  and  she  got  up  and  let  in  the  visitor. 

The  rumour  began  to  be  spread  that 
William  Jenkins,  Shop  General,  was  court- 
ing in  bed  with  the  wench  of  Penrhos,  and 
it  got  to  the  ears  of  Simon  and  Beca. 

"  What  for  you  want  to  court  William 
Shinkins,  Shop  General,  in  bed  for  ?  " 
said  Simon. 

"  There's  bad  you  are,"  said  Beca. 

"  Is  not  Bertha  Daviss  saying  that  he 
comes  up  here  on  his  old  iron  horse  ?  " 
said  Simon. 

50 


THE   WAY    OF   THE   EARTH 


"  Indeed  to  goodness,"  answered  Sara 
Jane,  "  what  is  old  Bertha  doing  out  so 
late  for  ?  Say  she  to  you  that  Rhys  Shop 
was  with  her  ?  ' 

"  Speak  you  with  sense,  wench  fach," 
Beca  said  to  her  daughter. 

"  Is  not  William  Shinkins  going  to  wed 
me  then  ?  "  said  Sara  Jane. 

"  Glad  am  I  to  hear  that,"  said  Simon. 
"  Say  you  to  the  boy  bach  :  '  Come  you  to 
Penrhos  on  the  Sabbath,  little  Shinkins.' ' 

"  Large  gentleman  is  he,"  said  Sara 
Jane. 

"  Of  course,  dear  me,"  said  Simon. 
"But  voice  you  like  that  to  him." 

The  Sabbath  came,  and  people  on  their 
way  to  Capel  Sion  saw  William  Jenkins  go 
up  the  narrow  Roman  road  to  Penrhos, 
and  they  said  one  to  another :  "  Close  will 
be  the  bargaining."  Simon  was  glad  that 
Sara  Jane  had  found  favour  in  William's 
eyes:  here  was  a  godly  man  and  one 
of  substance;  he  owned  a  Shop  General, 
51 


MY   PEOPLE 


his  coat  was  always  dry,  and  he  wore  a 
collar  every  day  in  the  week,  and  he  re- 
ceived many  red  pennies  in  the  course  of 
a  day.  Simon  took  him  out  on  the  moor. 

"  Shall  we  talk  this  business  then  at 
once  ?  "  Mishtir  Jenkins  observed.  "  Make 
plain  Sara  Jane's  inheritance." 

"  Much,  little  boy." 

"Penrhos  will  come  to  Sara  Jane, 
then  ?  " 

"  Iss,  man." 

"  Right  that  is,  Simon.  Wealthy  am 
I.  Do  I  not  own  Shop  General  ?  Man 
bach,  there's  a  grand  business  for  you ! " 

44  Don't  say  !  " 

"  Move  your  tongue  now  about  Sara 
Jane's  wedding  portion,"  said  Mishtir 
Jenkins. 

44  Dear  me,  then,  talk  will  I  to  Beca 
about  this  thing,"  answered  Simon. 

Three  months  passed  by.  Sara  Jane 
moaned  because  that  her  breast  was  hurt- 
ful. Beca  brewed  for  her  camomile  tea, 
52 


THE   WAY   OF   THE   EARTH 


but  the  pains  did  not  go  away.  Then  at 
the  end  of  a  day  Sara  Jane  told  Beca  and 
Simon  how  she  had  done. 

"  Concubine  !  "   cried  Beca. 

"  Harlot !  ':    cried  Simon. 

"  For  sure  me,  disgrace  is  this,"  said 
Beca. 

Sara  Jane  straightened  her  shoulders. 

"  Samplers  bach  nice  you  are  !  5:  she 
said  maliciously.  "  Crafty  goats  you  are. 
What  did  the  old  Schoolin'  use  to  say 
when  he  called  the  names  in  the  morning  ? 
1  Sara  Jane,  the  bastard  of  Simon  and 
Beca.'  Iss,  that's  the  old  Schoolin'.  But 
William  Shinkins  will  wed  me.  I  shan't 
be  cut  out  of  the  Seiet." 

Simon  and  Beca  were  distressed. 

"Go  you  down,  little  Simon,  and  word 
to  the  boy,"  said  Beca. 

"  I've  nothing  to  go  for,"  replied 
Simon. 

"  Hap  Madlen  Tybach  need  coal  ?  " 

"  No — no.  Has  she  not  much  left  ? 
53 


MY   PEOPLE 


Did  I  not  look  upon  the  coal  when  I 
fetched  the  eggs  ?  " 

"  Sorrowful  it  is  you  can  find  no  errand. 
Wise  would  be  to  speech  to  the  male  bach." 

"  Dear  little  me  !  I'll  go  round  and  ask 
the  tailor  if  he  is  expecting  parcels  from 
the  station." 

"  Do  you  now.  You  won't  be  losing 
money  if  you  can  find  a  little  errand." 

At  dawn  Simon  rose  and  went  to  Castell- 
ybryn.  In  going  over  the  bridge  of  Avon 
Teify  he  halted  and  closed  his  eyes  and 
prayed.  This  is  his  prayer  :  "  Powerful 
Big  Man  bach,  deal  you  fair  by  your  little 
servant;  And  if  Shinkins,  Shop  General, 
says,  4 1  am  not  the  father  of  your  wench's 
child,'  strike  him  dead.  We  know  he  is. 
Ask  you  Bertha  Daviss.  Have  we  not 
seen  his  name  on  the  gatepost?  This, 
Jesus  bach,  in  the  name  of  the  little 
White  Jesus." 

Outside  Shop  General  he  called  in  a 
loud  voice :  "  William  Shinkins,  where  he 
54 


THE   WAY    OF   THE   EARTH 


is?"  Then  he  came  down  and  walked 
into  the  parlour  where  Mishtir  Jenkins  was 
eating. 

Simon  said  :   "  Sara  Jane  is  with  child." 

"  And  say  you  do  that  to  me,"  said 
Mishtir  Jenkins. 

"  Iss,  iss,  man.     Sore  is  Beca  about  it." 

"  Don't  you  worry,  Simon  bach,  the 
time  is  long." 

"  Mishtir  Shinkins.  There's  religious 
he  is,"  said  Simon,  addressing  William 
Jenkins  in  the  third  person,  as  is  the 
custom  in  West  Wales  when  you  are 
before  your  betters.  "  Put  him  up  the 
banns  now  then." 

"  I  will,  Simon." 

"Tell  he  me,  when  shall  I  say  to  Beca 
thus  :  '  On  such  and  such  a  day  is  the 
wedding '  ?  Say  him  a  month  this  day  ?  " 

"All  right,   Simon.     I'll  send  the  old 

fly  from  the  Drivers'  Arms  to  bring  you 

and  Sara  Jane.     Much  style  there  will  be. 

Did  you  voice  to  Beca  about  the  matter  ?  " 

55 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  What  was  that  now,  indeed,  Mishtir 
Shinkins  ?  " 

"  Why  was  you  so  dull  ?  Sara  Jane's 
portion,  old  boy." 

"Well-well,  iss.  Well-well,  no.  We're 
poor  in  Penrhos,  Mishtir  Shinkins.  Poor." 

"  Grudging  you  are  with  your  money, 
Simon  Penrhos." 

"  Don't  he  say  like  that.  Make  speech 
will  I  again  with  Beca." 

Mishtir  Jenkins  stretched  his  face  to- 
wards Simon,  and  said  : 

"  What  would  you  say,  Simon,  if  I 
asked  you  to  give  me  Sara  Jane's  portion 
this  one  small  minute  ?  " 

"  Waggish  is  his  way,  little  Shinkins 
bach,"  said  Simon  with  pretended  good- 
humour. 

"  My  father  had  a  farm  and  sovereigns 
and  a  cow  when  he  wedded." 

"  Open  my  lips  to  Beca  I  will  about 
this,"  answered  Simon. 

"  Good,  very,"  replied  Mishtir  Jen- 
56 


THE   WAY    OF   THE   EARTH 


kins.  "  I  will  say  about  the  wedding, 
man,  when  you  bring  me  Beca's  words." 

"  Shinkins  !   Shinkins  !  " 

"  Leave  you  me  half  a  hundred  of 
pounds  of  Sara  Jane's  portion  and  I'll 
stand  by  my  agreement." 

"  Joking  he  is,  William  Shinkins.  Deal 
well  we  will  by  Sara  Jane  on  the  day  of 
her  wedding." 

William  Shinkins  spoke  presently.  "  I 
am  not  a  man  to  go  back  on  my  promise 
to  Sara  Jane,"  he  said.  "And  am  I  not 
one  of  respect  ?  " 

Simon  went  home  and  gave  thanks 
unto  God  Who  had  imparted  under- 
standing to  the  heart  of  William  Jenkins. 
But  folks  in  Manteg  declared  that  de- 
signing men  crossed  the  river  in  the  search 
of  females  to  wed.  Sara  Jane  was  no 
longer  ashamed.  She  went  about  and 
abroad  and  wore  daily  the  boots  from 
which  she  had  taken  out  the  hobnails. 

On  the  appointed  day  the  fly  came  to 
57 


MY   PEOPLE 


Penrhos,  and  Simon  and  Sara  Jane  went 
away  in  it :  and  as  they  passed  through 
Manteg  Bertha  Daviss  cried  :  "  People 
bach,  tell  you  me  where  you  are  going." 

Simon  told  her  the  glad  news. 

Bertha  waved  her  hand,  and  she  cried 
to  the  driver:  "Boy  nice,  whip  up,  whip 
up,  or  you'll  have  another  passenger  to 
carry." 

Mishtir  Jenkins  met  Simon  and  Sara 
Jane  at  the  door  of  the  inn. 

"  Sara  Jane,"  he  said,  "  stop  you  out- 
side while  me  and  your  father  expound 
to  each  other." 

He  took  Simon  into  the  stable. 

*'  Did  you  ask  Beca  about  the  yellow 
sovereigns  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Iss,  iss.     Many  sovereigns  he  will  get." 

"How  many?" 

"  Shinkins  bach,  why  for  he  hurry  ? 
Bad  it  looks." 

"  Sound  the  figures  now,  Simon." 

*4  Ten  yellow  sovereigns,  dear  me." 
58 


THE   WAY   OF   THE   EARTH 


"Simon  Penrhos,  you  and  your  wench 
go  home." 

41  William  Shinkins,  he  knows  that  Sara 
Jane  is  full.  I'll  inform  against  him. 
The  law  of  the  Sessions  I'll  put  on  him. 
Indeed  I  will." 

"  Am  I  not  making  Sara  Jane  mistress 
of  Shop  General  ?  Solemn  me,  serious  it  is 
to  wed  a  woman  with  child  !  " 

"  There's  hard  he  is,  Shinkins.  Take 
two  over  ten  sovereigns  and  a  little  parcel 
of  potatoes,  and  a  few  white  cabbages, 
and  many  carrots." 

"  Is  that  your  best  offer,  Simon  ?  " 

"  It's  all  we  have,  little  man.  We're 
poor." 

"  Go  with  the  wench.  Costly  the  old 
fly  is  for  me." 

Simon  seized  Mishtir  Jenkins*  coat. 

"  William  Shinkins  bach,"  he  cried, 
"don't  he  let  his  anger  get  the  better  of 
his  goodness.  Are  we  not  poor  ?  Accept 

he  our  daughter " 

59 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  Simon  Penrhos,  one  hundred  of  pounds 
you've  got  in  the  bank,  man.  Give  me 
that  one  hundred  this  morning  before  the 
wedding.  If  you  don't  do  that  you  shall 


see." 


Simon  shivered.  He  was  parting  with 
his  life.  It  was  his  life  and  Beca's  life. 
She  had  made  it,  turning  over  the  heather, 
and  wringing  it  penny  by  penny  from  the 
stubborn  earth.  He,  too,  had  helped  her. 
He  had  served  his  neighbours,  and  thieved 
from  them.  He  wept. 

"  He  asks  too  much,"  he  cried.  "  Too 
much." 

"  Come,  now,  indeed,"  said  William 
Jenkins.  "  Do  you  act  religious  by  the 
wench  fach." 

Simon  went  with  him  to  the  bank,  and 
with  a  smudge  and  a  cross  blotted  out 
his  account.  Then  he  witnessed  the  com- 
pletion of  the  bargain  in  Capel  Baptists, 
which  is  beyond  the  Sycamore  Tree. 

The  bridegroom  took  the  bride  home  to 
60 


THE   WAY   OF   THE    EARTH 

Shop  General,  and  he  gave  half  of  the 
dowry  to  a  broker's  man  who  had  been 
put  in  possession.  Some  of  the  remaining 
fifty  sovereigns  went  to  his  landlord  for 
overdue  rent,  and  on  the  rest  William 
Jenkins  and  Sara  Jane  lived  for  nearly  a 
year.  Then  the  broker's  man  returned, 
wherefore  William  Jenkins  gave  over  the 
fight  and  fled  out  of  the  land. 


61 


THE    TALENT    THOU    GAVEST 


68 


IV 
THE   TALENT   THOU   GAVEST 

EBEN  the  son  of  Hannah  held  up  his 
right  arm  and  displayed  the  palm  of  his 
hand. 

Mishtir  Lloyd  the  Schoolin'  said :  "  Put 
your  old  hand  down  now,"  and,  gaping  his 
mouth,  proceeded  to  call  out  the  register 

"  Maggie  Shones  ?  " 

"  Here,  iss." 

"  Eben  Tomos  ?  " 

"  Here,  iss,"  answered  three  voices 
together. 

"  For  what  you  do  not  shut  your  chins, 
you  dirty  cows !  >!  said  Mishtir  Lloyd. 
"  Why  do  you  all  act  like  old  horses  with- 
F  65 


MY   PEOPLE 


out  any  gumption  !   Now,  then,  Eben  the 
son  of  Sarah  the  daughter  of  Silah  ?  " 

"Here,  iss." 

"  Eben,  Marl's  child  by  Job  of  the 
Stallion  ?  " 

"Here,  iss." 

"  Eben  the  son  of  Hannah  the  widow 
of  Will  ?  " 

"  Here,  iss." 

Mishtir  Lloyd  called  by  name  each  of 
the  eighty-five  scholars  on  his  register ; 
when  he  came  to  the  end,  he  said  : 

"  What  for  was  your  hand  up  just  now, 
man,  Eben  the  son  of  Hannah  ?  " 

"  Did  I  not  want  to  tell  him,  little 
Mishtir,  that  I  am  not  coming  to  school 
any  more  then  ?  "  replied  Eben. 

"  Dear  me,  dear  me,  now  indeed  you  are 
not  coming  for  why  ?  " 

"  Mishtir  bach,  does  he  not  know  that 
I  am  going  to  the  moor  to  mind  the  sheep 
of  Shames  ?  " 

"  Ho,  and  you  say  that  ?  " 
66 


THE  TALENT  THOU  GAYEST 

Mishtir  Lloyd  picked  up  his  round 
ebony  ruler  and  drew  a  straight  line  over 
Eben's  name  on  the  register. 

The  next  morning  at  daybreak  Eben,  a 
crust  of  bread  and  a  piece  of  cheese  in 
his  trousers  pocket,  was  ready  to  take  up 
his  duties.  Before  he  went  Hannah  ad- 
dressed these  words  to  him  : 

"  Do  you  see  now,  little  Eben,  that  none 
of  Shames's  old  sheep  go  astray,  for 
Shames  is  quick  to  anger.  Don't  you  do 
any  evil  pranks  against  him,  because  it  is 
not  meet  that  Shames  shall  report  us  to 
the  Big  Man.  Earn  every  mite  of  the 
shilling  a  week  he  gives  you,  Eben  bach. 
Do  we  not  need  these  pennies  badly  ?  Last 
year  I  sacrificed  only  three  half-crowns 
to  Sion.  And  for  sure  the  Judge  will 
inform  the  Great  Male  about  me." 

Eben,  having  walked  over  the  mile  and 

a  half  of  heather,  and  having  come  to  the 

point  from  which  you  can  on  a  clear  day 

see  the  waters  of  Cardigan  Bay,  opened  the 

67 


MY   PEOPLE 


gate  of  the  enclosure  in  which  Shames's 
sheep  spent  the  night. 

This  Eben  did  every  day  till  he  grew 
out  of  knee-breeches  into  long  corduroy 
trousers.  His  life  was  lonely ;  books 
were  closed  against  him,  because  he  had 
not  been  taught  to  read ;  and  the  sense 
of  the  beautiful  or  the  curious  in  Nature 
is  slow  to  awake  in  the  mind  of  the  Welsh 
peasant.  After  a  time  Eben  began  to 
hold  whispered  conversations  with  himself. 
Gradually  he  found  consolation  in  his 
voice,  the  sound  of  which  fell  pleasingly 
upon  his  ears.  He  knew  many  hymns  by 
heart,  and  these  hymns  he  recited  to  the 
shivering  heather  and  the  grazing  sheep. 

One  afternoon,  his  legs  dangling  over 
the  edge  of  the  stone  quarry,  he  fell 
asleep,  and  in  his  dream  the  Big  Man — 
a  white-bearded,  vigorous,  stern,  elderly 
giant,  broad  as  the  front  of  Capel  Sion 
and  taller  than  the  roof — came  to  him, 
saying : 

68 


THE  TALENT  THOU  GAYEST 

"  Eben  bach,  why  for  now  do  you  waste 
your  days  in  sleep  ?  Go  you,  little  son,  and 
dig  a  hole  in  the  place  where  stood  Old 
Shaci's  hut." 

"It'll  be  a  big  hole,  little  Big  Man," 
answered  Eben,  "  if  I  must  make  it  the 
size  of  Old  Shaci's  hut." 

The  Big  Man  replied  :  "  There's  a  boy 
you  are  for  pleading  !  Go  you  up  and 
stand  against  the  sour  apple  tree  with 
your  face  to  the  sea.  At  a  distance  of 
three  steps  from  the  trunk  of  the  tree 
dig  an  old  hole  after  the  fashion  of  a 
grave." 

"Do  you  tell  me  now  for  what?" 
Eben  asked. 

"  For  sure,  is  there  not  a  talent  buried 
there  ?  " 

Eben  left  Shames's  sheep  and  came  to 
Penrhos. 

"Little  Simon,"  he  said,  "lend  you  me 
an  old  pickaxe  and  a  shovel." 

Returning,  he  numbered  the  sheep,  and 
69 


MY   PEOPLE 


drove  them  to  the  summit  of  the  moor,  and 
when  he  came  to  the  mound  on  which  a 
hundred  years  ago  Old  Shaci  built  his 
hut,  he  took  off  his  coat  and  waistcoat, 
and  dug  a  hole  as  deep  as  a  grave  and  of 
the  shape  of  a  coffin.  But  he  did  not  find 
anything. 

That  night  the  God  of  Capel  Sion  came 
to  Eben  again. 

"  Now  that  you  have  got  the  talent, 
Eben  bach,  do  you  use  it,"  He  said. 

"  Dear  little  Big  Man,"  answered 
Eben,  "  there's  foolish  you  talk.  Did 
I  not  dig  till  my  old  hands  were 
covered  with  blisters  ?  Provokeful  you 


are." 


The  Big  Man  spoke  :  "  Eben  bach,  here 
is  the  talent." 

Eben  opened  his  eyes.  He  sat  up  in 
bed  and  held  out  his  hands  :  the  dawn 
showed  grey  in  his  mother's  face. 

Weeks  passed  and  months  passed,  and 
each  night  Eben  said  this  prayer : 
70 


THE  TALENT  THOU  GAYEST 

"In  God's  name  to  my  bed  I  go, 
God  keep  the  hale  and  those  in  woe  ; 
I'll  lay  my  body  down  to  sleep, 
I'll  give  my  soul  to  Christ  to  keep, 
And  in  the  name  of  God  I'll  sleep.'* 


Adding : 


1  God  did  promise  me  a  talent : 
Let  Him  show  me  what  He  meant." 


Now  in  those  days  the  ruler  of  Capel 
Sion  was  the  Respected  Bern-Davydd, 
famous  throughout  the  land  for  his  singing 
eloquence ;  thus  oftentimes  Eben  sang 
the  minister's  sayings  while  he  kept  guard 
over  Shames's  sheep. 

Understanding  broke  upon  him  suddenly. 

"  Dear,  dear,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  this 
is  the  talent  the  Great  Male  gave  me.  I 
am  to  be  a  preacher  bach." 

In  the  holiness  of  his  joy  he  rose  to  his 
feet  and  sang  : 

"  The  dear  Big  Man  has  given  His  little 
servant  a  talent.  Sheep  bach  that  belong 
to  Shames,  what  do  you  think  the  talent 
71 


MY   PEOPLE 


is  now  ?  He  has  called  Eben  the  son  of 
Hannah  the  widow  woman  of  Will  to 
preach  the  Fair  Word.  Wise  indeed  is 
the  White  Jesus  to  give  His  little  servant 
the  strength  to  sing  the  Gospel." 

Eben  came  home  and  said  to  his  mother 
Hannah  : 

"  Mam  fach,  the  talent  the  Almighty 
gave  me  is  for  preaching." 

"  Eben,  why  you  are  so  vain  ?  "  Hannah 
said  to  him. 

But  Hannah  published  the  news  to 
the  men  who  sat  in  the  Big  Seat  in  Capel 
Sion,  so  it  came  about  that  Old  Bensha  of 
the  Road,  in  order  to  prove  him,  requested 
him  to  say  a  little  prayer  in  the  Seiet. 
Beautiful  and  songlike  was  the  supplica- 
tion that  Eben  offered  :  he  sang  mourn- 
fully for  those  at  sea,  for  sinners  that  wor- 
shipped in  places  other  than  Capel  Sion  ; 
he  sang  joyously  for  the  First  Men  who 
occupied  the  high  places,  for  the  many 
blessings  poured  upon  the  congregation, 
72 


THE  TALENT  THOU  GAYEST 

for  the  Big  Man's  gift  of  His  Son  to  judge 
over  Sion. 

Hannah  clothed  herself  in  her  most 
respectful  garments,  which  were  black 
and  decorated  with  ornaments  of  jet  and 
flowers  of  crepe,  for  this  is  the  wear  of 
the  women  whose  constant  thoughts  are  of 
Death  and  the  burial  of  the  dead ;  and  she 
came  down  to  the  Shepherd's  Abode,  where 
dwelt  the  Respected  Bern-Davydd. 

"  Eben  bach,"  she  said,  "  is  talking 
about  being  a  preacher." 

"  Religious  hearing,"  said  the  Judge. 
"  Have  I  not  had  sound  of  the  boy's  nice 
prayer  ?  " 

"  Little  holy  respected,"  said  Hannah, 
"  good  will  it  be  if  in  his  saintliness  he  lets 
a  concert  religious  be  held  in  the  Capel  so 
that  Eben  bach  can  be  sent  to  College 
Carmarthen." 

"  Sure,  indeed,"  answered  Bern-Davydd. 
"  I  will  cry  from  the  pulpit :  c  Buy  each 
of  you  a  ticket  for  Eben's  concert.  Two 
73 


MY   PEOPLE 


silver     shillings     is     the     price,     people 
bach.5  " 

When  Eben  came  away  from  College 
Carmarthen  his  holiness  was  voiced  abroad 
the  land  and  three  Capels  sent  him  word 
to  come  and  rule  over  them.  Of  the  three 
he  distinguished  the  finger  of  God  in  the 
weakest — Capel  Salem  in  Castellybryn. 
In  the  time  of  the  respected  Caleb  Daviss 
it  was  said,  "  A  fountain  of  light  is  Capel 
Salem  "  ;  but  the  godly  Caleb  ascended, 
whereof  the  glory  departed  and  the  taber- 
nacle became  as  a  withered  roadside  tree 
that  harbours  upon  itself  all  the  refuse 
the  wind  brings.  Eben  summoned  the 
chief  praying  men  into  the  Capel  every 
night  for  thirty  days,  to  entreat  the  Lord 
to  restore  the  religious  lustre  of  His  taber- 
nacle. Their  prayers  were  answered : 
whereas  at  the  beginning  of  Eben's  minis- 
try the  congregation  could  be  counted 
by  the  dozen,  in  two  years  their  numbers 
were  above  any  in  the  shire.  His  fame 
74 


THE  TALENT  THOU  GAYEST 

spread,  and  the  people  called  him  "Eben 
bach  the  Singer."  People  said  of  him  : 
"He  is  exalted  over  all  the  judges." 

But  in  the  high  day  of  his  spiritual 
prosperity  Eben's  powers  decreased  :  his 
discourses  got  to  be  less  songlike,  he 
conversed  with  rather  than  preached  to 
his  congregation,  and  he  wrote  out  his 
sermons.  Men  and  women  murmured : 
"  There's  pity,  now,  dear  me,  about  Eben 
bach  the  Singer." 

The  men  of  the  Big  Seat  reproached  him. 

"  Well- well,  Eben  bach,  no  one  wept 
again  the  last  Sunday,"  said  Ben  Shop 
Draper. 

"  Indeed  to  goodness,  not  one  '  Hale- 
lujah  '  or  '  Amen  '  did  I  hear,"  said  Noah 
Shop  Boots  and  Clogs. 

"  For  what  he  say  that  life  is  more  than 
religion  ?  "  asked  Ben. 

"  Little  Ben  and  Noah,"  replied 
Eben,  "  the  Palace  must  be  here  on 
earth." 

75 


MY   PEOPLE 


Ben  rose  from  his  chair  and  said : 
"  Eben  bach,  an  old  atheist  he  is." 

"  Were  he  not  the  ruler,"  said  Noah, 
"  pray  for  him  I  would  this  one  night." 

"  Listen  you  to  me  now,"  said  Eben. 
"  I  have  not  preached  to  you  at  all  the 
real  religion.  I  offered  you  the  White 
Palace  or  the  Fiery  Pool.  Men,  men,  that 
is  not  right.  If  you  don't  live  in  Heaven 
here  you  won't  live  in  Heaven  when 
you  perish.  Look  you  at  Roberts  of  the 
Shop  Grocer.  Did  he  not  make  his  servant 
Mari  very  full  barely  a  year  after  he 
stood  up  in  the  Seiet  and  said  that  he 
prayed  each  night  to  be  taken  to  Mistress 
Roberts  ?  Did  he  not  cry  '  Halelujah  !  ' 
and  'Amen'?" 

"  Man,  man,  wrong  you  are  to  speak  so 
about  Roberts  of  the  Shop  Grocer,"  said 
Ben.  "  Poor  Roberts  bach  was  sorely 
tempted,  and  he  is  forgiven.  And  has  he 
not  sent  the  bad  bitch  about  her  business  ? 
Now  think  you  over  these  things,  and  do 
76 


THE  TALENT  THOU  GAYEST 

you  not  be  a  blockhead  to  throw  away 
your  house  and  one  hundred  of  sovereigns 
a  year." 

So  Eben  bach  the  Singer — short,  square, 
stooping,  bushy,  sandy  hair  falling  over 
his  forehead  and  shoulders  like  a  sheaf  of 
straw — gave  up  his  house,  his  one  hundred 
sovereigns  a  year,  and  his  charge,  and  he 
returned  to  the  house  of  his  mother.  His 
name  became  a  proverb  and  a  byword. 
The  deacons  of  Capel  Sion  prayed  for  him 
in  private  and  in  public,  but  the  voice  of 
the  singer  was  silent. 

On  a  day  Ben  Shop  Draper  journeyed 
to  Hannah's  cottage. 

"Eben,  Eben,"  he  cried,  "woeful  is 
the  errand  I  have  to  speech  to  you.  The 
new  ruler  cannot  keep  the  flock  together." 

"  Ho,  indeed." 

"  You  have  sinned  hardly  against  Capel 
Salem,  Eben  bach." 

"  Don't  you  say  that  now." 

"  Iss,  indeed.  You  took  the  temple  in 
77 


MY   PEOPLE 


marriage.  Now  you  have  divorced  her. 
The  Big  Man  will  count  this  serious  against 
you,  Eben.  Dear  me,  one  hundred  sove- 
reigns and  a  house,  and  eight  Sabbaths 
off  in  the  year." 

"  How  could  I  preach  against  my  con- 
science ?  '  asked  Eben. 

;<L«»ok  you  not  at  things  in  that 
light,  dear  man.  Suppose  now  we 
give  you  ten  more  sovereigns  ?  Awake 
and  gather  yourself  together,  and  ask 
the  Big  Man  bach  to  show  you  the 
way." 

People  in  the  neighbourhood  declared 
Eben  was  mad,  that  he  had  spewed  on 
his  own  glory. 

"  Gird  on  your  armour,"  remarked 
Lloyd  the  Schoolin'  to  him.  "  Pray  to  be 
rid  of  the  Evil  Spirit." 

Eben  made  no  answer. 

"Wicked  you  are,"  proceeded  Mishtir 
Lloyd.  "  Has  not  the  Big  Man  given 
you  a  talent  ?  *' 

78 


THE  TALENT  THOU  GAVEST 

"  Iss,  iss,  for  sure :  He  did  give  me  a 
large  talent." 

"  Shame  upon  you,  you  old  cow,  for 
throwing  it  against  the  Big  Man's 
teeth." 

"  But  I  want  to  use  it,"  retorted  Eben. 
"  The  congregation  won't  let  me,  Lloyd 
bach.  So  long  as  I  employed  half  a  talent 
all  went  well." 

If  at  this  time  you  happened  to  be 
taking  the  cart-road  which  cuts  across 
the  moor,  past  the  quarry  and  Old  Shaci's 
hut,  you  would  have  seen  Eben  sitting  on 
the  fringe  of  the  heather. 

Folk  who  came  that  way  were  in  the 
habit  of  remarking  to  him  : 

"  Glad  day  to  you,  Eben  the  son  of 
Hannah." 

Without  lifting  his  eyes,  Eben  would 
reply  : 

"  A  glad  day  to  you." 

"  What  you  are  waiting  for,  man  ?  ' 

44  For  the  Angel  of  the  Lord." 
79 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  Indeed  to  goodness  now,  how  will  you 
know  him  when  he  comes  ?  ' 

"  Sure  me,  I  won't  miss  him.'* 

The  angel  came  towards  the  close  of  a 
day.  Eben  saw  him,  and  greeting  him 
with  a  wave  of  the  hand,  he  hurried  to 
Penrhos. 

"  Simon  bach,"  he  said,  "  do  you  now 
lend  me  your  old  pickaxe  and  shovel." 

"  Man,  man,"  replied  Simon,  "  foolish 
you  are  to  begin  a  job  this  time  of  the 
night." 

"  He  may  not  come  this  way  again," 
answered  Eben. 

Eben  hastened  over  the  heather  to  the 
place  where  Old  Shaci's  hut  was.  Taking 
off  his  coat  and  his  waistcoat,  and  loosen- 
ing his  braces,  he  dug  a  hole  in  the  ground, 
a  hole  deep  as  a  grave  and  of  the  shape  of 
a  coffin.  In  the  darkness  he  stood  over  the 
open  grave,  his  coat  buttoned,  india-rubber 
cuffs  on  his  wrists,  his  hair,  wet  with  per- 
spiration, thrown  back  over  his  head. 
80 


THE  TALENT  THOU  GAYEST 

"  Big  Lord,"  he  spoke,  "  the  talent 
Thou  gavest  me  brought  a  great  deal  of 
woe  with  it.  Let  Thy  angel  here,  O  Big 
Man,  bear  witness  now  that  I  return  to 
Thee  Thy  talent.  And  do  Thou  let  me 
depart  in  peace,  to  make  the  best  use  I 
can  of  the  half-talent  which  is  mine.  .  .  ." 

He  opened  his  hands  and  spread  his 
palms  over  the  open  grave,  as  though  he 
dropped  something  into  it ;  and  having 
prayed  he  took  off  his  coat,  his  waistcoat, 
and  his  india-rubber  cuffs,  and  cast  the 
earth  back  into  the  grave. 

He  returned  to  his  mother's  cottage, 
and  he  shaved  off  his  beard,  and  brought 
forth  from  his  box  the  black  coat  he  wore 
in  the  pulpit ;  and  in  the  morning  he 
clothed  himself  in  his  preacher's  raiment, 
and  wrote  this  message  : 

"  Beloved  brothers  in  God  of  Capel 
Salem,  which  is  in  the  Castellybryn  : 

"  Your  judge  has  found  the  way.  Hale- 
lujah  !  Amen  !  Glory  !  Rejoice  with  me, 
0  81 


MY   PEOPLE 


my  brothers.  For  I  have  found  the  true 
light.  The  light  that  shineth  sinners  to 
repentance !  My  brothers,  God  has  told  me 
to  go  forth  into  the  vineyard.  God  has 
told  me  to  resume  my  labours  in  Capel 
Salem.  Pray,  my  beloved,  that  my  labours 
will  be  very  fruitful  among  you.  Let  not 
the  matter  of  the  little  sovereigns  engage 
your  minds  at  this  joyful  time.  Has 
not  our  dear  brother  Ben  Shop  Draper 
arranged  all  that  ? 

"  Your  Ruler  in  the  faith, 

"EBEN." 


THE    GLORY    THAT    WAS    SIGN'S 


83 


TWM  TYBACH  was  abhorred  of  Capel  Sion. 
In  all  his  acts  he  was  evil.  He  was  born 
out  of  sin,  and  he  walked  in  the  company 
of  loose  men.  His  features  were  fair,  and 
he  had  a  rakish  eye,  before  which  the  heart 
of  Madlen  utterly  melted.  Now  Madlen 
owned  two  pigs,  a  cow  and  a  heifer,  several 
heads  of  poultry,  and  Tybach,  the  stone- 
walled cottage  that  is  beyond  the  School- 
house.  In  his  fortieth  year  Twm  coveted 
Madlen's  possessions  ;  and  inasmuch  as 
Madlen  was  on  the  borderline  of  her  woman- 
hood she  received  Twm's  advances  with  joy. 
So  Twm  hired  Old  Shemmi's  horse-car 
85 


MY   PEOPLE 


and  drove  Madlen  to  Castellybryn,  where 
the  two  were  married  in  the  house  of  the 
registrar.  The  occasion  is  memorable  to 
Madlen  because  that  night  she  slept  in  a 
virgin's  bed,  her  husband  having  gone 
into  the  bed  of  Old  Mari  who  sold  sweet 
loshins  in  the  market  place. 

Thereon  Twm  lived  on  Madlen.  He 
poached  a  little,  but  he  was  credited  with 
more  rabbits  and  hares  than  he  would 
risk  his  liberty  to  trap;  in  season  he 
pretended  to  help  his  neighbours  in  the 
hayfield,  but  nearly  always  succeeded  in 
getting  under  covert  with  a  woman. 

He  was  as  irreligious  as  an  irreligious 
Welshman  can  be.  He  defied  the  Big 
Man  openly  ;  never  except  on  market  and 
fair  days  did  he  wear  his  best  clothes ;  in 
passing  the  Respected  Josiah  Bryn-Bevan 
and  Mistress  Bryn-Bevan  he  kept  his  cap 
on  his  head  and  whistled,  and  once  he  made 
Mistress  Bryn-Bevan  sick  by  spitting  loudly 
on  the  ground ;  he  frequented  the  inn  which 
86 


THE   GLORY   THAT   WAS    SIGN'S 

is  kept  by  Mistress  Shames, where  he  con- 
sorted with  the  disreputable  Shon  the  Pig 
Drover — one  without  honour  in  the  land. 

Six  weeks  after  his  wedding  Twm  was 
stricken  by  illness.  The  Respected  Josiah 
Bryn-Bevan,  then  Judge  of  Capel  Sion, 
declared  that  the  Lord  was  smiting  His 
enemy,  a  just  fate  for  all  that  offendeth 
Him.  The  third  day  of  his  illness  Twm 
crept  into  the  four-poster  bed  in  the 
kitchen,  and  he  ordered  Madlen  to  bake 
a  loaf  of  leavened  bread  and  to  place  it 
on  his  belly ;  and  a  stubby  beard  grew  on 
his  chin. 

The  evening  of  that  day  Dr.  Morgan 
came  by  Tybach ;  Madlen  stopped  him, 
saying,  "  Indeed,  now,  doctor  bach,  come 
him  in  and  give  me  small  counsel  about 
Twm." 

The  doctor  examined  Twm  and  he  said 
to  him  :  "  Well-well,  Twm,  you  will  perish 
in  a  few  days." 

When  Madlen  heard  this  she  placed  a 
87 


MY   PEOPLE 


kettle  of  water  on  the  fire  and  brought 
down  her  husband's  razor  from  the  highest 
shelf  of  the  dresser. 

Twm's  face  turned  very  white,  for  the 
man  was  afraid  of  Death. 

*'  There's  no  chance  for  you,  little 
Twm,"  the  doctor  said.  "  You  are  a 
hundred  times  worse  than  the  boy  in 
the  Bible  who  took  up  his  old  bed  and 
walked." 

The  account  of  how  the  days  of  the  evil- 
favoured  Twm  Tybach  were  rounding  on 
him  Was  carried  from  mouth  to  mouth, 
and  none  was  sorry.  It  was  told  to  the 
Respected  Josiah  Bryn-Bevan  in  Shop 
Rhys.  The  teller  of  it  was  Bertha  Daviss. 
This  is  what  she  said : 

"  Dear  me !  Dear  me !  The  old  calf  of 
Twm  Tybach  is  passing." 

"  Madlen  will  want  mourning,"  said 
Rhys  quickly.  "  She  has  not  had  a  death 
for  many  years." 

The  Respected  Josiah  Bryn-Bevan  was 
88 


THE    GLORY   THAT   WAS    SIGN'S 

a  religious  man,  and  aware  of  Twm's  evil 
reputation. 

"  Indeed  to  goodness,"  he  said,  with 
much  solemnity.  "  And  you  do  say  so 
now,  Miss  Daviss  ?  " 

"  Iss,  iss,"  said  Bertha,  addressing  the 
minister.  "  Man,  man,  why  for  he  does 
not  know  that  Twin  Tybach  is  a  Congre- 
gationalist  ?  Was  not  old  Eva  his  mother 
cut  out  of  the  Seiet  when  Twm  was 
born  ?  For  sure  me,  that  was  so." 

"  What  iobish  do  you  spout,  Bertha  !  " 
said  Rhys.  "  What  credit  is  the  scamp 
unto  Sion  ?  5: 

"  Be  you  merciful,  little  Rhys,"  re- 
turned the  minister.  "  Do  you  forgive 
others  as  you  need  forgiveness." 

"  Maybe  Twm  is  no  credit,"  observed 
Bertha,  "  but  we  will  have  to  bury  him. 
Is  not  our  graveyard  the  fullest  in  all  the 
land  ?  " 

"  You  say  wisely,  Bertha  Daviss,"  said 
the  minister.  "  You  say  wisely,  Bertha 
89 


MY   PEOPLE 


fach.  Iss  not  the  grave  our  last  home 
then  ?  We  must  begrudge  it  to  no  man. 
O  little  ones,  there  is  largish  space  in  the 
Big  Man's  acre." 

"No,  no,  Respected  bach,"  cried 
Bertha.  "  For  why  ?  The  graveyard  is 
full.  Father  was  the  last  to  be  laid  there. 
And  in  comfort  did  he  go  up  when  he 
knew  of  that  glory." 

Rhys  Shop  looked  upon  the  minister. 
The  minister  looked  upon  Bertha  :  his 
gaze  travelled  from  her  clogs,  her  torn 
stockings  and  her  turned-over  petticoat 
to  the  yellow  skin  of  her  face  and  the 
narrow  eyes  which  looked  out  damply 
over  her  bridgeless  nose. 

"  Woman,"  he  cried  at  last,  "  dost  thou 
speak  what  thou  knowest  to  be  true,  or 
dost  thou  repeat  unto  me — yea,  unto  me 
thy  Judge — that  which  is  idle  gossip  ?  ' 

"The  truth,  Bryn-Bevan  bach.  The 
truth." 

The  minister  was  confounded.  The 
90 


THE   GLORY   THAT   WAS   SIGN'S 

muscles  of  his  cheeks  moved  nervously 
under  his  red  beard.  Then  he  arose  and 
saying,  "  Fair  day,  boys  bach,"  but- 
toned his  frock-coat  and  grasped  his  var- 
nished stick,  and  left  the  shop.  Rhys  and 
Bertha  stood  by,  and  when  he  was  gone 
they  stood  in  the  way  of  the  door  and 
watched  the  high,  thin,  tall-hatted  figure 
treading  heavily  down  the  road  towards 
Capel  Sion;  and  at  the  week-night  Meet- 
ing for  Prayer  every  one  there  knew  that 
though  the  Respected  Bryn-Bevan  was 
blessed  with  much  wisdom,  understanding, 
and  knowledge,  the  Big  Man  had  loaded 
him  with  a  burden  heavy  to  bear. 

Never  within  Capel  Sion,  nor  within 
the  boundaries  of  the  parish,  has  been 
heard  such  a  plea  as  that  which  was  spoken 
by  Bryn-Bevan  that  night.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  Adam  and  Eve  he  petitioned 
that  his  brother  Twm  Tybach  would  find 
repentance  in  the  fulness  of  time,  so  that 
Death  would  find  his  putrid  body  cleansed 
91 


MY   PEOPLE 


and  worthy  of  burial  in  the  bosom  of  the 
new  graveyard. 

With  the  minister's  amen,  Abel  Shones, 
the  officer  for  poor  relief,  rose  and  sug- 
gested a  deputation  to  wait  upon  the  vicar 
seeking  permission  to  inter  Twm's  body 
in  the  church  graveyard. 

"  Very  mad  is  Abel  Shones,  males  bach," 
said  Old  Shemmi.  "  When  Twm's  sins  are 
forgotten,  the  Church  will  claim  him  as  her 
own." 

"  And  possession,  dear  me,  counts  for 
much  in  the  law,"  said  Sadrach  Danyre- 
fail. 

Lloyd  the  Schoolin'  was  for  compromise. 

"  At  the  entrance  to  Capel  Sion,"  he 
said,  "  we  will  put  up  an  old  stone  on 
which  is  written  these  words  :  '  Tomos 
Tomos,  Tybach,  lieth  not  here.  Tomos 
lieth  in  the  parish  church.  Why,  dear 
people  ?  Because  the  graveyard  of  Capel 
Sion  was  so  full  that  there  was  no  room 
for  further  burials.'  : 
92 


THE    GLORY   THAT    WAS    SIGN'S 

"  What's  the  use  of  a  tombstone," 
asked  Old  Shemmi,  "if  there  is  nothing 
under  it  ?  Does  a  landless  man  go  to 
Castellybryn  to  buy  a  plough  ?  " 

"  O  you  people,"  the  Respected  Bryn- 
Bevan  broke  in,  "  you  are  all  wandering 
on  the  moorness.  Dear  me.  Dear  me ! 
Let  us  now  seek  deliverance  from  this 
trial  which  it  has  pleased  God  to  inflict 
upon  us.  Let  them  who  go  to  church — 
tithe  gatherers  and  the  like — be  buried  in 
church  ground.  Well  do  we  know  the 
fewness  of  graves  there.  We  know  where 
the  Angel  and  the  trumpet  will  be.  Our 
graveyard,  dear  ones,  is  it  not  the  glory 
of  Sion  ?  No,  indeed  then,  we  cannot 
spare  one  clay.  Sit  you  down  now  and 
reason  with  one  another." 

"  Very  suitable,"  observed  Old  Shemmi, 
"  is  the  field  over  Abel  Shones's  house." 

"  I  am  not  afraid  to  enter  the  Palace," 
said  Abel.  "  But,  friends  bach,  does  not  my 
drinking-water  come  through  that  field  ?  " 
93 


MY   PEOPLE 


Wherefore  the  wrath  of  the  minister 
waxed  hot  against  Abel. 

"  None  except  a  dirty  old  atheist,*' 
the  Respected  Bryn-Bevan  said,  "  would 
bring  materialism  to  bear  upon  a  sacred 
subject.  It  is  the  water  of  life  that 
matters,  Abel  Shones." 

Great  is  the  Respected  Josiah  Bryn- 
Bevan. 

Abel  protested  against  the  use  of  para- 
bles in  debate. 

"  Dost  thou  then  not  believe  in  the 
Parables  ?  "  shouted  the  minister.  "  Come 
ye  now,  speak.  O  man,  man,  where  dost 
thou  expect  to  go  to  when  thou  hast 
shuffled  off  thy  carnal  garments  ?  Dost 
thou  expect  to  wear  the  White  Shirt?" 

At  the  end  of  the  Big  Seat  Abel  Shones 
was  praying  for  Old  Shemmi ;  now  as 
Shemmi  saw  and  heard  this  thing  he  too 
fell  on  his  knees  and  prayed  for  the  cure 
of  Twm  Tybach.  Lloyd  the  Schoolin', 
having  taken  off  his  boots,  stood  on  the 
94 


THE   GLORY   THAT   WAS   SIGN'S 

seat  of  his  pew,  asking  God  to  repent 
of  His  intention  of  spoiling  Capel  Sion  as 
He  had  done  with  Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 
44  Don't  you  now,  little  Big  Man,"  he 
prayed,  "be  influenced  either  this  way  or 
that  way  by  their  talk.  Think  you  to 
yourself,  they  do  not  know  what  they 
do."  To  this  day  the  hour  that  remark 
was  uttered  is  a  memorial  to  the  occur- 
rence, for  the  congregation  turned  their 
faces  to  the  clock,  whose  hands  they  did 
not  think  would  move  again. 

"  Brethren  " — Mishtir  Bryn  -  Bevan's 
voice  rose  above  the  noises — "  Brethren, 
at  this  moment  Twm  Tybach  may  be 
passing  into  the  Pool." 

The  First  Men  saw  that  Bryn-Bevan's 
counsel  was  good,  and  they  discussed  and 
disputed,  and  it  came  to  be  that  Old 
Shemmi's  scheme  was  adopted. 

This  field  belonged  to  the  squire, 
who  regarded  any  one  trading  under  the 
name  of  Nonconformist  as  a  thief  and  a 
95 


MY  PEOPLE 


quibbler.  In  his  dealings  with  the  kind 
the  squire  acted  through  his  lawyer,  and 
therefore  many  days  had  to  pass  before  the 
ground  would  be  transferred  to  Capel  Sion. 

Meanwhile  those  who  worshipped  in 
Sion  were  commanded  to  pray  without 
ceasing  that  Twm's  life  would  not  end 
until  the  new  burial  place  came  into 
Sion's  possession.  But  in  spite  of  all 
the  prayers  each  hour  seemed  to  take 
Twm  nearer  the  parish  church.  Three 
times  in  one  day  Madlen  laid  her  black 
gown  over  the  foot  of  the  bed ;  three 
times  she  took  the  razor  out  of  its  case. 

Many  came  to  Tybach  and  prayed  by 
Twm's  bedside;  some  came  from  a  distance, 
and  they  arrived  weary  and  refreshed  them- 
selves with  tea  which  Madlen  brewed  for 
them ;  and  every  visitor  brought  a  present. 
The  sick  man  was  tempted  with  offerings 
of  tins  of  sardines  and  corned  beef,  jars 
of  red  cabbage  pickles  and  home-made 
jams.  Mistress  Bryn-Bevan  sent  a  bottle 
96 


THE   GLORY  THAT  WAS   SIGN'S 

of  rhubarb  wine.  The  man  was  angry 
when  he  was  told  that  it  would  not 
make  anyone  drunk.  Every  night  Rhys 
Shop  came  with  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of 
biscuits  which  he  laid  on  the  pillow,  and 
he  also  brought  with  him  samples  of  black 
materials  which  were  suitable  for  mourn- 
ful garments. 

Even  the  Respected  Josiah  Bryn-Bevan 
came  and  stood  over  Twm's  bed.  Twm 
opened  his  eyes  and  said  he  thought  his 
visitor  was  Shon  the  Pig  Drover. 

"  Twm  !  "  Madlen  cried.  "  Shameful 
you  are  !  There's  a  squirrel  for  you  !  Say 
something  religious  to  our  little  Judge." 

The  minister  sat  on  the  window-sill  and 
said  :  "  Twm,  indeed  for  sure,  glad  you 
ought  to  be,  sinner  bach,  that  you  are  to 
be  laid  in  little  Capel  Sion." 

If  ever  the  minister  was  inclined  to  the 
sin  of  unbelief  in  death-bed  repentance 
it  was  when  he  heard  Twm's  answer  and 
saw  Twm's  face. 

H  97 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  O  Twm,"  he  said,  "  there's  glory  that 
is  awaiting  for  you,  man.  After  many 
years  I  will  come  to  Capel  Sion  with 
my  grandchildren  and  I  will  show  them 
your  grave  and  say  to  them,  '  This  is  the 
grave  of  Tomos  Tomos,  Tybach.  He 
was  buried  the  day  the  graveyard  was 
opened.'  ! 

But  Twm  hardened  his  heart  and  would 
not  take  any  comfort  from  the  words  of 
the  Ruler  of  Capel  Sion. 

44  Shon  bach,"  he  whimpered,  44  would 
be  nice  to  me." 

44  You  have  been  a  bad  man,  Twm," 
the  minister  sang.  44  But  now  you  are 
coming  into  a  heritage  of  splendour. 
Come  forth  from  your  house  of  bondage. 
I  am  your  deliverer,  and  I  will  walk 
before  your  coffin,  Twm  bach,  to  your 
last  home  in  Capel  Sion." 

Twm  turned  his  face  to  the  wall ;  and 
he  tried  to  stuff  his  ears  with  the  ends  of 
the  patchwork  quilt  that  covered  him, 

98 


THE   GLORY   THAT  WAS   SIGN'S 

The  minister  went  away,  and  he  said 
to  his  congregation  : 

"  Be  comforted.  Twm  will  be  buried 
in  the  new  little  burial-ground." 

Time  wore  on.  The  title  deeds  of  the 
new  burial-ground  were  made  over  to  the 
First  Men,  and  Capel  Sion  lifted  his  head 
and  murmured,  "  The  glory  of  Sion  is 
not  departed." 

Although  light  flickered  in  the  window 
of  Tybach  throughout  several  nights  ; 
although  many  saw  the  Candle  of  the 
Corpse — that  spirit  light  which  foretells 
death — going  out  of  the  house  and  along 
the  road  to  Capel  Sion ;  although  Madlen 
herself  heard  the  moan  of  the  Spirit 
Hound,  Twm  did  not  die. 

People  did  not  come  any  more  to 
Tybach,  and  the  praying  men  ceased  to 
pray  for  Twm ;  for  they  knew  he  would 
die,  and  whether  he  liked  it  or  not  his 
sinful  bones  would  rest  in  the  land  that 
was  the  glory  of  Capel  Sion. 
99 


MY   PEOPLE 


Late  one  night  Twm  told  Madlen  to 
read  to  him  about  the  man  who  took  up 
his  bed  and  walked.  Barely  had  Madlen 
begun  her  reading  than  Twm  groaned  and 
gurgled. 

"  The  end,"  said  Madlen  to  herself. 
"  Twm  bach  is  in  the  Jordan." 

She  moved  to  the  bed ;  Twm's  eyes 
were  opened.  She  closed  them.  His 
face  was  grey  as  if  the  Angel  of  Death 
had  cast  the  down  from  his  wings 
upon  it. 

The  kettle  was  singing  on  the  hob ; 
Madlen  shifted  it  on  to  the  live  coals,  and 
she  took  the  razor  out  of  its  case  and 
stropped  it  on  the  leather  which  hung  on 
the  bedpost.  Twm  heard  the  hissing  of 
the  kettle,  and  he  also  heard  the  sound  the 
flat  of  the  blade  made  on  the  leather  ;  and 
he  understood.  He  put  his  fingers  through 
the  stubby  beard  which  had  grown  on  his 
chin.  A  fear  came  over  him.  He  threw 
back  the  clothes  which  covered  him,  and 
100 


THE   GLORY   THAT   WAS   SIGN'S 

wrapped  around  him  the  patchwork  quilt, 
and  he  went  and  sat  by  the  fire. 

"  Madlen  !  "  he  cried.  "  Little  Madlen, 
is  not  the  old  kettle  boiling  then  ?  There's 
slow  mule  you  are  !  Come,  make  you  a 
cup  of  tea  now." 

From  first  to  last  Twin's  years  were 
five-and- forty. 


101 


\ 


THE    DEVIL    IN    EDEN 


103 


VI 

THE    DEVIL    IN   EDEN 

IF  ever  the  innermost  meaning  of  the  Word 
was  in  dispute  in  Capel  Sion  the  Big  Man 
sent  an  angel  in  a  cloud  with  a  message  to 
Old  lanto  of  the  Road,  and  this  message 
Old  lanto  interpreted  to  the  congregation. 
Thus,  honoured  above  men,  lanto  got 
puffed  up  and  vain-glorious,  whereat  the 
Big  Man  sent  a  tempter  to  test  him. 

The  tempter,  in  the  flesh  of  a  tramp, 
came  to  Manteg  in  the  quiet  of  a  Sabbath 
eve,  and  he  found  lanto  setting  his 
thoughts  in  tune  with  Sion  on  the  bank  of 
the  waters  which  are  against  the  hedge  of 
Abel  Shones's  garden. 

The  tramp  stood  over  Old  lanto,  and 
spoke  to  him  : 

105 


MY   PEOPLE 


*'  Tell  you  me  now  how  far  I  am  from 
the  poorhouse  of  Castellybryn." 

"  Man,  man,"  answered  lanto,  "  you're 
seven  miles  good  and  more." 

Although  it  was  then  dusk  the  tempter 
made  no  move  to  pass  on  his  journey. 

"  You  seem  weary,  man  bach,"  re- 
marked lanto. 

"  Indeed  to  goodness  now,  weary  I  am," 
answered  the  tramp. 

"  Sit  you  down  and  rest  your  little  old 
feet,"  lanto  counselled  him. 

The  tramp  removed  his  shoes.  His  feet 
were  blistered,  wherefore  he  rebuked  the 
sun  and  its  heat  and  the  stones  on  the 
roads,  and  they  were  dusty. 

"  Say  from  where  you  are,  boy  bach 
nice  ?  "  asked  lanto. 

"  From  far  enough,  small  male,  not  to 
want  to  walk  another  step." 

"  Say  you  where  you  hail  from  and 
your  place  of  abode." 

"  The  foxes  in  the  fields  have  their 
106 


THE    DEVIL    IN   EDEN 


holes,"  was  the  reply,  "  the  birds  of  the 
air  their  nests,  but  I  have  nowhere  to  lay 
my  head." 

Old  lanto  turned  his  face  upon  the  figure 
on  the  ground,  saying  : 

"  For  what  you  say  that  ?  Dear,  dear, 
has  not  the  little  Big  Man  said,  '  Ye  are  of 
more  value  than  many  sparrows '  ?  " 

"  Nowhere  to  lay  this  old  head,"  the 
tempter  repeated  through  his  thick  lips. 

"  Welshman  too  !  "  exclaimed  lanto. 
"  Not  religious  are  your  words,  man. 
What  for  you  don't  know  that  you  utter 
these  vain  things  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  ? 
Open  your  eyes,  and  look  you.  Does  not 
this  river  break  out  into  four  little  heads  ? 
Saw  you  Shop  Rhys  as  you  came  by  ? 
There  the  Creator  placed  Adam,  and  was 
not  Adam  the  first  sinner  ?  Behind  you 
is  the  evil  tree,  boy  bach.  See  you  how 
crooked  the  old  trunk  is !  And  here  just 
is  the  spring  that  gave  Eva  fresh  water 
to  brew  tea." 

107 


MY   PEOPLE 


The  tempter  opened  his  heavy  eyelids 
and  said  : 

*'  You  male  alive,  now  why  you  are  not 
a  preacher  ?  " 

lanto's  heart  rejoiced. 

"  Iss,  indeed,"  he  said,  "  this  is  the 
Garden  spoken  of  in  the  Book  of  Words. 
The  nice  Respected  Ruler  of  the  Lord  in 
Capel  Sion  says  that  Eva  ate  of  the 
sour  apples  on  the  tree.  Does  not  Abel 
Shones  still  pray  for  Eva  ?  " 

44  Who  is  Abel  Shones,  whatever  ?  " 
asked  the  tramp. 

"He  is  the  officer  for  Poor  Relief," 
answered  lanto.  "  Wise  indeed  is  Abel. 
Dear  man,  you  should  hear  him  praying  1 
Asking  the  Big  Man  to  help  him  find  out 
wrong-doers." 

"  Ho,  ho,  and  you  say  like  that  I " 
said  the  tempter. 

Then  Old  lanto  sang,  and  this  is  what 
he  sang : 

44  Iss,  iss,  dear  man.  This  is  the  Gar- 
108 


THE   DEVIL    IN   EDEN 


den  of  Eden.     This  is  the  beginning  of 
the  world.     Goodness  me,  here  was  put 
breath  into  clay;    here  God  gave  Adam 
the  tongue  that  I  am  speaking  in  now." 
The  song  finished,  the  tempter  said: 
"  Woe  my  poor  flesh  !   I  am  tired." 
"Of  course,    of   course,"    said   lanto ; 
and  he  raised  his  long,  thin  legs  from  the 
ground.     "  Do  you  come  with  me,  dear 
stranger,  and  tarry  a  while  in  my  house. 
But  first  put  on  your  old  shoes,  for  it  is 
not  seemly  to  go  about  in  bare  feet  on  the 
eve  of  the  Sabbath." 

lanto  took  the  tramp  home,  and  he 
bade  his  daughter  Dinah  warm  up  a  bowl 
of  broth  and  lay  it  before  his  guest ;  and 
while  the  tempter  ate  of  the  broth  and 
bread,  lanto,  preparing  for  the  Sabbath 
when  none  shall  work,  went  to  the  stream 
and  cleansed  his  hands  and  face  with 
small  gravel ;  and  when  he  was  returned 
to  the  house  he  sheared  the  ends  of  his 
beard. 

109 


MY   PEOPLE 


The  tempter  having  eaten  his  meal, 
pulled  off  his  shoes  and  lit  his  pipe. 

"  Do  you  ever  pray,  one's  brother 
bach  ?  "  asked  lanto. 

"  Brother,  indeed  !  "    said  Dinah. 

"  Hold  thy  chin,  little  Dinah,"  lanto 
reproved  her.  "  Brother  I  mean  in  the 
spirit  rather  than  in  the  letter.  Brother 
bach,  do  you  pray  steadfast  ?  >: 

"  What  a  question,  dear  me  !  "  answered 
the  tempter.  "  Indeed,  do  I  not  live  by 
faith  ?  " 

lanto  placed  a  bunch  of  tobacco  inside 
his  right  cheek,  and  the  black  mole  thereon 
moved  up  and  down  and  in  and  out  in 
progress  with  it. 

"  Come  you  now,"  said  Dinah,  "  speak 
you  your  name." 

"  Michael,"   said  the  tempter. 

lanto  opened  his  Bible  and  read.   After- 
wards he  removed  the  tobacco  from  his 
mouth  and  laid  it  on  the  table,  and  he 
reported  to  God  with  a  clean  mouth. 
110 


THE   DEVIL    IN    EDEN 


When  he  had  risen  from  his  knees  and 
had  shaken  the  stiffness  out  of  his  joints, 
Dinah  addressed  him  : 

"Little  father,  for  why  you  are  an  old 
mule  ?  Shame  on  you  to  bring  here  a  dirty, 
bad  tramp.  What  then  will  folk  say  ? 
Tell  you  him  to  go  about  his  business." 

"Hush,  hush,  Dinah.  Say  you  not  so. 
4  Inasmuch  as  ye  do  unto  the  least  of  my 
little  ones.'  Michael  is  tired.  Look  you !  " 

The  tramp  had  fallen  asleep ;  a  silver 
line  of  spittle  ran  from  his  lips  along  the 
stem  of  his  pipe,  dropping  from  the  base 
of  the  bowl. 

lanto  wound  up  his  watch,  and  took 
off  his  clothes,  and  stepped  over  the  mud 
floor  to  his  bed,  which  stood  against  the 
nailed-down  window-frame. 

Dinah  rested  her  elbows  on  her  stock- 
inged knees,  and  she  settled  her  eyes  on 
the  sleeping  stranger — a  muscular  figure 
with  tanned,  hairy  skin  showing  under  his 
buttonless  shirt. 

Ill 


MY   PEOPLE 


Old  lanto  spoke  from  his  bed  : 

"Dinah,  go  you  off  to  your  loft  now. 
Indulge  in  no  evil  thoughts  concerning 
Michael.  Think  you  no  less  of  him,  little 
daughter,  because  the  Big  Man  has  not 
blessed  him  with  much." 

Dinah  untied  the  tape  which  held  her 
skirt  around  her  waist,  and  removed  the 
cotton  bodice  which  covered  her  loosely 
hanging  breasts,  and  went  up  the  ladder 
into  the  loft. 

In  the  morning  she  baked  a  loaf  of 
plank  bread,  which  with  a  bowl  of 
milk  warm  from  the  cow  she  laid 
before  the  tramp.  To  her  father  she 
observed : 

"  I  think  that  old  serpent  of  a  straggler 
can  abide  here  a  time,  and  help  to  do 
something  about  the  place.  What  say 
you  now  if  he  set  to  mend  the  wall  of  the 
pigsty?" 

The  tempter  fattened  many  days  in 
lanto's  house.  He  built  a  new  wall  to 
112 


THE    DEVIL    IN   EDEN 


the  pigsty  and  on  the  inside  of  the  door  of 
the  cowshed  he  contrived  a  trickish  bolt. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  second  Sunday 
after  his  coming  he  fondled  Dinah  and 
made  mischief  with  her,  and  when  they 
had  committed  their  sin,  the  woman  was 
revengeful,  and  she  cried  to  him  : 

"Go  your  way!  Take  to  the  dung- 
hill !  You  lout !  For  sure  I  will  shout 
your  wickedness."  She  seized  his  head 
and  clawed  his  scalp,  until  the  tramp's 
hair  was  dyed  red. 

But  Michael  understood  the  ways  of 
women,  and  Dinah,  far  from  divulging  what 
had  taken  place,  went  out  in  the  darkness 
of  that  night,  and  when  she  had  secured 
the  door  she  laid  with  him  on  a  little 
straw  spread  on  the  floor  of  the  cow-stall. 

In  the  ripeness  of  time  Dinah  sorely 
repented  herself,  and  was  much  shamed ; 
she  drew  in  the  seams  of  her  garments,  and 
pressed  herself  as  butter  is  pressed  into 
an  over-full  cask. 


MY   PEOPLE 


People  remarked  her,  and  said  things 
one  to  another. 

lanto  spoke  to  his  daughter. 

"  Bad  you  were  to  go  out  of  your  way 
to  tempt  poor  Michael.  Tell  you  the  boy 
bach  that  it's  good  for  him  to  get  beyond 
the  sense  of  your  wickedness." 

Dinah  acted  ;    she  said  to  Michael : 

"  Get  you  out  of  our  home,  the  old 
hen !  Get  away  off,  else  I'll  stick  this  old 
pitchfork  in  your  eyes." 

Michael  grew  feared,  and  departed; 
and  in  a  week  he  came  back. 

"  Sure,  dear  me,  now,"  he  observed  to 
lanto,  "  you  won't  turn  your  guest  into 
the  highway.  Let  me  rest  in  your  house 
for  a  small  period." 

"  Remain  here  as  long  as  you  like,  little 
son,"  replied  lanto.  "  But  steel  your 
heart  against  the  wiles  of  my  wench." 

During  the  month  which  followed  Dinah 
employed  divers  methods  to  rid  the  house 
of  Michael.     On  a  day  she  said  to  him  : 
114 


THE    DEVIL    IN   EDEN 


"  Off  now,  you  boy  bach,  and  buy  two 
pounds  of  sugar  in  Shop  Rhys.  Take 
you  this  silver  little  sixpence."  On 
another  day  she  said  to  him:  "Go  off, 
now  indeed  to  death,  and  change  these 
eggs  for  money  at  Shop  Rhys,"  and  she 
gave  him  thirty  eggs,  each  egg  worth  a 
penny.  Yet  on  another  day  she  said  to 
him:  "A  broom  I  must  have.  Take  a 
shilling  and  buy  one  in  Shop  Rhys." 
But  Michael,  to  her  great  distress,  per- 
formed these  errands  faithfully. 

In  the  twilight  of  an  afternoon  Dinah 
was  preparing  lanto's  supper.  Michael 
was  sleeping  in  a  chair  under  the  chimney. 
The  room  was  illumined  by  a  thin  light 
from  the  fire  ;  Dinah  turned  around,  and 
she  beheld  that  Michael's  feet  were  cloven 
hoofs,  and  that  from  his  head  there  came 
forth  two  horns.  In  the  twinkling  of 
an  eye  she  knew  whom  she  had  been 
entertaining.  Hastening  into  the  lower 
parlour,  she  placed  the  palms  of  her 
115 


MY   PEOPLE 


hands    on   the   cover   of  the   Bible   and 
prayed : 

"  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  get  thee  behind  me,  Satan. 
Jesus  bach,  be  with  your  Ruler  in  Capel 
Sion.  Amen." 

She  re-entered  the  kitchen. 

"  Michael,  man,"  she  said,  "  how  say 
you  to  a  nice  cup  bach  of  tea?  " 

"  Iss,  indeed,  Dinah,"  answered  the 
tramp. 

Dinah  lifted  an  empty  tin  pitcher. 

"  Dear  now,"  she  exclaimed,  "  what 
pity  !  There's  not  a  drop  of  water.  Go 
you  and  draw  some." 

The  tramp  pushed  his  feet  into  his  clogs. 

"  Give  me  the  old  pitcher  then,"  he 
said. 

"  Have  I  not  need  of  the  pitcher  for 
milking  ?  '  Dinah  said. 

"I'll  bring  it  in  the  bucket  that  is 
outside  the  pigsty,"  said  Michael,  walking 
towards  the  door. 

116 


THE    DEVIL    IN   EDEN 


"  Don't  you  be  dirty,  boy  bach,"  cried 
Dinah.  "  That  bucket  is  for  the  pigs' 
wash." 

Michael  had  moved  to  the  threshold 
and  was  holding  the  door  ajar.  He  looked 
along  the  road  and  saw  that  Abel  Shones, 
the  officer  for  Poor  Relief,  was  running 
to  the  house. 

He  came  back  into  the  kitchen. 

"  What  shall  I  fetch  it  in,  then  ?  "  he 
asked.  "  Be  you  hasty  now,  for  am  I 
not  thirsty  ?  " 

"  Dear  me,  what  a  calf  you  are,  man ! 
Bring  it  in  this,"  and  Dinah  gave  him  the 
cinder  sifter. 

Since  these  things  happened  Dinah  has 
been  blessed  with  second-sight  and 
visionary  power.  On  dark  nights  she 
goes  to  the  well  and  mocks  the  Angel 
Michael,  who  until  he  performs  the  task 
that  is  set  him,  will  remain  upon  the 
earth  in  the  flesh  of  a  tramp. 

117 


THE  WOMAN  WHO  SOWED 
INIQUITY 


119 


VII 

THE   WOMAN  WHO  SOWED 
INIQUITY 

THIS  is  the  chronicle  of  Betti  Lancoch, 
who  was  the  daughter  of  Essec,  the  Essec 
of  whom  is  written  on  his  gravestone 
that  he  was  possessed  of  two  farms  named 
Lancoch  and  Llanwen,  that  he  had  a 
name  among  the  religious  men  of  the 
Big  Seat  in  Capel  Sion.  On  Essec's 
death  Betti's  inheritance  was  Lancoch, 
which  is  the  smaller  of  the  farms ;  and 
the  inheritance  of  her  brother  Joshua  was 
Llanwen. 

Until   her  thirtieth   year  Betti  was   a 

princess  in  Sion.     Her  wealth  was  a  prize 

for  which   many   intrigued  and   prayed  ; 

and  although   much   gravel  was  thrown 

121 


MY   PEOPLE 


at  her  window  at  nights  she  did  not 
give  herself  to  anyone. 

Her  brother  Joshua  looked  very  keenly 
after  her  interests.  He  was  anxious  that 
she  should  marry  a  godly,  humble  man, 
and  from  the  tales  he  told  her,  godly, 
humble  men  were  scarce  in  the  land. 
Even  the  character  of  Rhys  Shop  was 
shown  in  a  bad  light  when  he  got  to  know 
how  the  white-faced,  big-paunched  shop- 
keeper one  night  tried  to  climb  up  the 
wall  to  the  room  wherein  Betti  slept. 
Joshua  was  married  himself,  and  did  not 
find  much  pleasure,  he  said,  in  it,  and  he 
wished  to  keep  his  sister  as  free  and  happy 
and  pure  as  the  Big  Man  had  ordained 
she  should  remain.  For  he  managed  the 
selling  of  most  of  the  produce  of  Lancoch 
and  paid  himself,  one  way  or  another, 
for  his  trouble. 

Betti  answered  only  too  well  to  her 
brother's  skilful  guiding.  She  did  not  open 
the  window  of  her  room  to  any  man  in 
122 


THE    WOMAN    WHO    SOWED    INIQUITY 

Capel  Sion  or  in  the  place  around.  Now 
on  an  August  day  she  went  to  Eistedd- 
fod Castellybryn  and  there  met  Gwylim, 
the  son  of  Silah  and  Tim,  farmers  in  the 
Vale  of  Towy.  .  .  .  Gwylim  came  and 
courted  Betti  in  full  daylight,  where- 
fore the  men  of  Sion  grew  angry,  and 
they  called  on  Joshua  and  said  to  him : 
"  Speak  you  to  her,  little  Josh,  for  is 
she  not  your  sister,  man?"  Joshua  took 
counsel  of  God.  God  answered  him  by 
a  dream.  "Well-well,  Josh  bach,"  He 
said,  "  very  terrible  is  this  about  the  wench 
Betti.  Windy  is  the  female.  Command 
you  her  to  remain  unwed.  Moreover,  not 
right  for  her  to  take  a  husband  away  from 
Capel  Sion.  Ach  y  fi !  Giving  her  farm  and 
pennies  and  silver  and  yellow  gold  to  a 
male  who  worships  trappings  and  cere- 
monials in  the  old  church  !  Be  you  wrath- 
ful with  her  in  My  name."  Joshua  spoke 
these  words,  and  more,  to  his  sister,  but 
Betti  refused  to  turn  from  her  way,  for 
123 


MY   PEOPLE 


which  reason  Joshua  and  the  men  of  Capel 
Sion  were  disquieted,  and  they  asked 
God  to  deal  according  to  His  wisdom  with 
this  woman  who  wilfully  strayed  from 
the  path  of  the  religious. 

Betti  jerked  her  freckled  face  and 
snapped  her  fingers,  and  boasted  in  the 
security  of  her  riches :  "  Goodness  me, 
must  then  I  be  instructed  in  my  doings 
by  a  pack  of  old  hens  ?  Sure  now,  I  am 
not  beholden  to  any  in  Capel  Sion." 

In  the  foolishness  of  her  vanity  she 
curled  her  yellow  hair  like  a  Jezebel,  and 
she  fashioned  the  front  of  her  hair  into  a 
fringe  which  she  wore  over  her  forehead. 
Her  brother  Joshua  came  to  her  from 
Llanwen. 

Betti,  heedless  of  the  cow  lowing  to  be 
milked,  was  tying  up  her  hair  before  a 
looking-glass. 

"Woman,"  cried  Joshua,  beholding  what 
his  sister  was  doing,  "  have  you  no  shame  ? 
Will  you  bring  discredit  on  me  then  ?  * 
124 


THE   WOMAN   WHO    SOWED    INIQUITY 

"  Josh  bach,  there's  good  you  are  to 
call,  man.  Do  you  take  this  bucket  of 
wash  to  the  old  pigs,  and  ask  Madlen 
Tybach  to  come  over  and  milk  the  cow 
on  your  way  home." 

"  My  sister  Betti,  for  what  you  do  not 
know  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death  ?  " 
said  Joshua. 

"  Don't  you  get  savage,  Josh.  Am  I 
not  making  myself  look  pretty  for  to 
see  Gwylim's  father  and  mother  to- 
morrow? " 

"  Pretty  !  This  too  on  the  eve  of  the 
Sabbath  !  Is  not  a  pretty  woman  a  snare 
to  the  godly  ?  Look  you  at  Potiphar's 
wife  now." 

"  Josh,  indeed  to  goodness,  what  a 
talkist  you  are  !  " 

"  Dear  me,  what  will  Priscila  say  when 
I  tell  her  ?  But  then  Priscila  is  content  to 
stand  where  the  little  Big  King  has  placed 
her — an  angel  ministering  to  me  and  my 
children," 

125 


MY  PEOPLE 


"What  do  I  count  what  Priscila  thinks ! 
Clap  your  lips,  Josh  bach." 

"  Don't  you  say  wicked  sayings  now, 
Betti  fach,"  Joshua  advised  her.  "  Speech 
you  not  that.  Be  you  reasonable,  my 
girl." 

"  So  that  is  why  you've  come  here  ?  " 

Joshua  leaned  his  body  against  the 
dresser,  and  drew  his  clog  from  his  right 
foot  and  removed  the  dirt  that  had 
gathered  on  the  sole  between  the  iron 
rims  ;  and  he  closed  his  mouth  so  that 
the  projecting  birth-tooth  in  the  middle 
of  it  clawed  his  lower  lip. 

"  The  Big  Man  brought  my  feet  here, 
Betti  fach,"  he  remarked  at  last.  "  Listen 
you  to  me  now.  How  would  you  say 
if  I  mouthed  this  to  you:  'Betti  the 
daughter  of  Essec,  this  bit  of  land  is  very 
vexatious  to  you.  You  don't  get  the  best 
from  it.  Let  me,  your  religious  brother 
Joshua,  trim  it  for  you,  and  come  you 
and  live  with  us  in  Llanwen." 
126 


THE   WOMAN   WHO   SOWED    INIQUITY 

"  Josh,  indeed  you  are  leaving  Gwylim 
out  1  " 

"Gwylim!  You  are  not  intent  on 
wedding  Gwylim  ?  " 

"  Iss,  man  bach,  I  am.  Think  you  I 
curl  my  hair  for  Rhys  Shop  ?  Think  you 
I  bought  this  nice  white  petticoat  for 
him  ?  Dear,  there's  dense." 

"  Mercy  me,  what  a  bad  wench  you 
are ! "  cried  Joshua.  "  Have  you  not 
heard  what  a  dissipated  boy  Gwylim  is  ? 
Heard  you  not  of  his  doings  and  his 
cheatings  over  cattle  ?  Turn  you  away 
from  your  purpose,  and  act  as  I  bid  you." 

"  I  shall  wed  him  in  front  of  all  you 
say,  Josh,"  said  Betti.  "  Boy  bach 
swellish  is  Gwylim." 

"  O  Betti,  is  it  a  light  thing  to  you  that 
you  take  your  possessions  to  a  man  who 
never  goes  to  capel  ?  " 

"  Little  man  senseless,  you  are  eloquent  1 
Do  you  think  I  could  live  for  ten  minutes 
with  that  old  hare  of  your  wife  Priscila  ?  " 
127 


MY   PEOPLE 


Rhys  Shop  proclaimed  in  the  Seiet 
that  the  Terrible  Man's  anger  was  like 
the  pierce  of  a  new  pitchfork  against 
Betti  Lancoch.  Joshua  fell  on  his  knees 
in  his  pew,  wept,  and  prayed.  Thus  the 
Lord  comforts  His  children  :  when  Joshua 
arose,  lo,  his  eyes  were  dry,  and  he  turned 
his  face  upon  the  Big  Seat,  and  addressed 
the  men  of  the  high  places  of  Capel  Sion. 
He  said : 

"  Little  people,  I  pray  you  now  not  to 
think  too  harshly  of  me  because  my  sister 
brings  this  abomination  upon  the  nice 
Capel.  Look  you  mercifully  upon  my 
affliction.  Priscila  fach  is  badly  cut  about 
it.  She  is  not  here  to-night.  You  know 
how  it  is  with  Priscila — how  the  Big 
Father  is  blessing  her  with  another  child. 
The  Lord,  little  people,  will  administer 
the  rod  of  correction  on  this  slut  who  so 
shamelessly  sows  the  seeds  of  iniquity ;  she 
will  reap  vanity.  Stand  you  by  me  and 
Capel  Sion :  if  I  am  wrong,  sure  indeed  the 
123 


THE   WOMAN   WHO    SOWED    INIQUITY 

Big  Man  will  send  a  message  to  Sadrach 
Danyrefail  here." 

Worshippers  on  their  way  to  Capel  Sion 
the  preceding  Sunday  had  shuddered  at 
the  sight  of  Betti  Lancoch  flaunting  her- 
self in  fine  garments.  Rhys  Shop  spoke 
to  her : 

"  Whisper  you  to  me  now  where  you 
are  going." 

"  To  the  abode  of  Gwylim's  people," 
replied  Betti. 

"  And  you  say  so  now.  There's  going 
to  be  a  wedding,  then  ?  " 

"  Iss,  iss,  Rhys  Shop,"  Betti  answered, 
and  in  her  ostentatious  pride  she  lifted 
her  frock  and  displayed  the  skirt  of  her 
white  petticoat. 

Rhys  bent  himself  and  examined  the 
material  from  which  it  had  been  made. 

"Jasto!"  he  cried.  "Tell  you  me 
now  if  you  paid  a  shilling  except  a  half- 
penny a  yard  for  this  ?  " 

Betti  laughed. 

K  129 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  Didn't  you  now,  Betti  fach  ?  "  Rhys 
persisted.  "  Beautiful  and  useful  is  the 
cloth  in  the  Shop  that  will  do  for  your 
wedding  gown.  It  is  only  half  a  crown  a 
yard  too.  But  there,  don't  you  think  any 
more  about  it.  ...  Little  white  Jesui., 
forgive  me  for  saying  like  this  on  the 
Sabbath.  Dear  me,  forgetful  male  I  was  I 
Be  with  your  Ruler  in  Sion.  Amen." 

"  Sabbath  or  no  Sabbath,  Rhys  Shop,  I 
will  not  buy  my  wedding  gown  from  you. 
To  Carmarthen  will  I  journey  and  get  it 
from  the  grand  shop  of  Llewellyn  Shones 
in  the  market." 

Rhys  then  walked  with  Bertha  Daviss, 
to  whom  he  spoke  these  words  : 

"  Little  Bertha,  Abishag  has  gone  by." 

So  Gwylim  and  Betti  were  married,  and 
all  in  and  around  Lancoch  having  been 
sold  and  the  house  and  the  land  having 
been  rented,  they  went  to  live  in  the  town 
of  Carmarthen ;  and  the  house  of  their 
abode  has  ten  stone  steps  in  the  front  of 
130 


THE   WOMAN    WHO    SOWED    INIQUITY 

it,  and  it  is  named  Avon  Towy  because 
that  river  is  the  distance  of  a  field 
beyond  it.  A  year  after  her  mar- 
riage Betti  came  to  Manteg  with  her 
child,  and  she  magnified  brazenly  the 
fortune  of  her  husband.  But  she  did  not 
say  anything  of  the  occasions  that  he  had 
come  home  drunk,  or  of  the  times  when  he 
had  struck  her  with  the  ring  end  of  his  razor 
strop;  nor  did  she  show  to  any  one  the 
sore  that  was  on  her  left  breast. 

The  man  Gwylim  was  foolish  in  his  drink. 
He  backed  a  bill  for  twenty  sovereigns, 
and  when  one  came  to  redeem  it  he  had 
nothing  with  which  to  pay  the  price.  He 
went  to  his  father's  house  and  said  how 
this  and  that  evil  had  befallen  him. 

"  Give  you  the  boy  bach  the  money," 
said  Silah  to  her  husband  Tim.  "  Give 
you  him  the  money.  This  is  not  his  fault, 
Little  Tim.  Is  he  not  wedded  to  a  sloth- 
ful woman  ?  " 

Old  Silah  loved  her  son,  and  she 
131 


MY   PEOPLE 


killed  for  him  a  chicken  and  laid  it  before 
him.  Gwylim  was  crafty  and  charged 
himself  falsely,  saying  :  "  An  old  rascal 
am  I  to  bring  this  upon  you ;  "  therefore 
Old  Silah  murmured  in  his  hearing  this 
lullaby  : 

44  Pity  such  a  concubine  snared  you, 
little  Gwylim,  my  son  bach." 

Old  Silah's  lullaby  lodged  itself  in 
Gwylim's  brain ;  and  drank  he  never  so 
deep  nor  got  he  never  so  muddled,  he 
remembered  it  always.  It  was  as  if  the 
words  were  the  first  words  he  had  been 
taught  to  utter. 

Betti  ceased  to  visit  Manteg  ;  she  rarely 
went  out  of  her  house.  Always  she  was 
either  with  child  or  she  bore  some  mark 
of  her  husband's  savagery  :  often  both 
stopped  her  from  going  abroad.  In  com- 
mon with  the  women  of  her  race  constant 
child-bearing  made  her  slovenly  and  sallow. 
With  the  birth  of  her  fifth  boy  arrived 
her  first  act  of  humiliation :  she  wrote 
132 


THE   WOMAN   WHO    SOWED    INIQUITY 

to  her  brother  Joshua  for  the  loan  of 
thirty  sovereigns.  Joshua  answered  that 
he  would  lend  her  fifteen  sovereigns  pro- 
vided she  signed  a  bill  of  sale  on  Lancoch. 

Betti  hid  away  the  money  in  a  decanter. 

Now  it  happened  that  on  an  afternoon 
Gwylim  was  very  drunken,  and  he  came 
to  the  decanter  in  which  the  money 
was  hidden. 

"  Fiery  Pool !  "  he  shouted.  "  Where 
did  you  get  this  from  ?  Oh,  ydu've  been 
whoring.  You  concubine  !  You  slut !  " 

His  rage  was  so  great  that  he  scattered 
the  gold  on  the  floor.  Then  he  gathered 
it  up  and  went  out,  and  to  all  whom  he 
met  he  groaned  that  a  harlot  had  lured 
him  and  that  a  harlot  was  the  mother  of 
his  children.  "  Did  not  the  old  mam  say," 
he  cried,  "  '  Pity  the  bitch  of  a  concubine 
snared  you,  boy  bach '  ?  " 

In  the  morning  of  the  day  Betti  opened 
the  door  of  her  house,  and  she  saw  that 
Gwylim  was  fallen  at  the  foot  of  the  stone 
133 


MY   PEOPLE 


steps,  his  head  resting  on  the  first  step. 
She  carried  him  into  the  house  and  took 
off  his  clothes  and  put  him  into  bed.  Be- 
fore the  end  of  the  day  Betti  thanked  God 
that  paralysis  had  gripped  him.  Two 
months  later  a  hearse  took  away  his  body 
to  the  consecrated  ground  where  Silah  and 
Tim  will  some  time  join  him.  He  will  rest 
between  them. 

Betti,  a  widow  woman  with  five  children, 
returned  to  Manteg  ;  and  in  Manteg  none 
said  to  her  "  How  be  things  with  you, 
Betti  fach  ?  "  for  is  it  not  known  that  the 
woman  who  sows  iniquity  shall  reap  the 
fruits  thereof? 

Out  of  the  wreckage  she  had  saved 
enough  to  provide  Lancoch  with  a  poor 
cow,  ^a  couple  of  pigs,  and  a  few  hens.  She 
tilled  the  soil  as  well  as  a  woman  without 
implements  can  till  it.  But  stray  cattle 
wandered  into  her  fields  because  of  the 
broken  hedges,  and  late  in  the  springtime 
a  herd  of  cows  spent  a  night  in  her  garden. 
134 


THE   WOMAN   WHO    SOWED    INIQUITY 

These    cows    belonged    to    her    brother 
Joshua. 

Betti  then  said  to  Joshua :  "  I  might 
indeed  as  well  not  have  touched  my  garden, 
Josh  ;  your  old  cows  have  trampled  on 
all  my  little  beds.'* 

Joshua  replied :  "  Well- well,  Betti  fach, 
for  why  you  do  not  keep  your  hedges 
in  trim,  then?  Dear,  dear,  you  are  like 
the  foolish  virgins." 

"  Keep  you  your  cows  under  eye," 
Betti  answered. 

44  What  a  wicked  tongue  you  have, 
Betti !  "  answered  Joshua.  "  To  think 
that  we  both  come  of  the  same  religious 
father  !  " 

Betti  made  no  reply. 

*'  And  Betti,"  Joshua  resumed,  "  the 
five  over  ten  sovereigns  are  more  than 
due  now.  Give  them  to  me." 

41  Five  over  ten  sovereigns  ?  " 

44  Iss,   iss.     Dear  me,   it's  a  long  time 
since  I  lent  them  to  you.     Much  did  I 
135 


MY  PEOPLE 


sacrifice  for  this.  But  I  couldn't  think  of 
you  going  in  want,  Betti  fach.  No,  no, 
are  you  not  my  own  flesh  and  blood  ? 
Of  course,  you  won't  anger  the  Big  Man 
by  trying  to  cheat  your  brother,  will 
you  ?  " 

"  I  haven't  any  yellow  gold,"  Betti 
answered.  "  I  don't  know  where  to  get  it, 
unless  I  sell  Lancoch.  Indeed,  I've  been 
unlucky  since  I've  had  the  place." 

"  Betti,  for  shame !  Don't  you  blas- 
pheme. It's  the  Big  Man's  way.  And 
it  will  be  sinful  to  sell  Lancoch.  Did  not 
our  father  and  grandfather  live  here  ?  " 

"  What  else  can  I  do  ?  You  must  have 
the  money  ?  ': 

"  According  to  the  law,  Betti  fach, 
Lancoch  is  mine  if  pay  you  cannot." 

"  Lancoch  was  given  to  me." 

"For  surely,  Betti  fach.  For  surely. 
But  did  you  not  sign  the  little  agree- 
ment ?  " 

"  Agreement  or  no,  Lancoch  is  mine." 
186 


THE   WOMAN   WHO   SOWED    INIQUITY 

Joshua  took  possession  of  the  land 
around  Lancoch.  He  put  up  new  gates, 
and  repaired  the  hedges,  and  divers  times 
he  drove  Betti's  cow  out  of  the  fields 
into  the  roadway.  It  was  a  dry  summer, 
and  water  was  scarce  in  the  ditches 
that  are  alongside  the  roads ;  Betti's  cow 
went  thirsty  for  three  days,  and  then  she 
laid  herself  down  on  the  moor  whither 
she  had  wandered,  and  perished. 

Joshua  turned  in  at  Lancoch. 

"  Little  Betti,"  he  said,  "  grave  is 
the  news  I  have  for  you.  Priscila  has 
promised  Lancoch  to  Hugh  the  Stone- 
mason." 

"  You  want  me  to  go  off  ?  >! 

"  Glad  I'll  be  if  you  go  off,  Betti  fach." 

"  Where  ?  " 

"  Pity  now  you  didn't  take  the  offer 
to  come  and  live  in  Llanwen.  I  can't  go 
back  on  Priscila's  word  to  Hugh.  And 
he'll  be  handy  about  the  place.  There's 
the  money  too.  Josh  the  Small  is  costing 
137 


MY   PEOPLE 


me  a  deal  now.  Educating  a  boy  to  be  a 
little  preacher  does  take  a  lot  of  money, 
Betti.  But  I  am  only  lending  to  the 
Big  Man." 

Betti  broke  in :  "  Josh,  I've  been  a 
foolish  woman.  I  rejected  your  counsel, 
and  I  mocked  the  Man  of  Terror.  But 
I  am  humbled  now,  Josh  bach.  All  the 
stiffness  has  gone  out  of  me.  And  the 
Big  Man  is  angry  with  me." 

"  Repent  you,  Betti  fach,  and  He  will 
forgive  you." 

"  Little  Josh,  I  have  passed  through  the 
Pool  since  I  wedded  Gwylim.  Oh,  Josh," 
Betti  cried,  "  deal  gently  with  your  sister 
nice.  Turn  you  not  me  out  of  my  home. 
What  is  the  rent  to  you  ?  Listen  you  to 
my  plea,  there's  a  boy  bach." 

"  I  would  now,  indeed,  but  you  see 
Priscila  has  given  her  word " 

The  infant  nestling  against  Betti 's 
breast  touched  the  sore  made  there  by 
the  ring  end  of  Gwylim's  razor  strop,  and 
138 


THE   WOMAN   WHO    SOWED    INIQUITY 

the  place  hurt  her.  She  gave  a  cry  ;  and 
with  that  cry  there  arose  in  her  heart 
something  of  the  old  spirit  of  the  woman 
who  flaunted  herself  in  fine  vain  gar- 
ments on  a  Sabbath  morning,  and  who 
laughed  in  the  faces  of  the  men  of  the 
Big  Seat. 

"  Joshua,"  she  cried,  "  you've  stolen 
Lancoch  from  me.  Dear,  dear,  what  an 
old  Satan  you  are,  man !  Bad  you  are, 
Joshua !  Look  you,  so  long  as  there's 
a  roof  over  Lancoch,  I  will  stop  in  the 
house." 

"  You  talk  like  an  awful  woman,"  said 
Joshua.  "  Do  you  not  know  how  you 
are  tempting  the  Big  Man  ?  Be  calm, 
you  wicked  spider." 

Joshua  knelt  by  his  bedside  that  night 
and  asked  the  Almighty  to  bring  into 
subjection  the  spirit  of  this  most  stubborn 
of  His  creatures. 

Betti  locked  the  door  of  her  house  and 
covered  the  windows  with  boards.  At  the 
139 


MY   PEOPLE 


weakest  point,  which  was  in  the  doorway, 
she  stood  armed  with  a  crowbar. 

In  the  morning  Joshua  spoke  to  Hugh 
the  Stonemason. 

"  I  have  spent  the  night  in  prayer,"  he 
said.  "  The  Big  Man  has  not  forsaken 
the  righteous,  so  whatever  happens  will 
be  His  doing,  not  ours,  Hugh  bach.  The 
Lord's  will  be  done.  Go  you  down  to 
Lancoch  now,  and  take  an  old  ladder  with 
you  and  climb  to  the  roof,  and  remove 
the  tiles  one  by  one.  Be  careful  lest  any 
untoward  happening  befall  my  sister  Betti, 
for  has  not  the  white  little  Jesus  bidden 
us  love  our  enemies  ?  Do  you  see,  Hugh 
bach,  that  not  one  slate  falls  on  the  head 
of  our  sister  Betti.  But  if  one  does, 
well-well,  then,  has  not  the  Great  Male 
promised  to  be  on  the  side  of  His  religious 
children  ?  " 


140 


A   JUST   MAN    IN    SODOM 


141 


VIII 
A    JUST    MAN    IN    SODOM 

THE  haymakers,  gathering  in  the  hay  of 
Sadrach  Danyrefail,  rested  in  the  shadow 
of  the  hedge,  eating  their  midday  por- 
ridge and  skimmed  milk. 

Sadrach  the  Small  raised  his  voice  : 

"  Come  you  now,  Pedr,  give  us  a  little 
bit  of  a  sermon,  man.  Stand  you  in  the 
old  cart." 

"  Iss,  iss,"  said  Martha,  the  stranger 
woman  who  ruled  at  Danyrefail,  "  do 
you  do  this  thing  we  ask  of  you." 

The  workers  raised  their  mouths  from 
their  wooden  bowls. 

"  Goodness  now,"  said  Pedr,  "  why 
should  I,  beloved  of  the  little  Big  Man, 
143 


MY   PEOPLE 


preach  from  a  common  cart  when  there 
is  a  pulpit  in  Capel  Sion  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Pedr,  Pedr,"  Sadrach  the  Small 
said,  "  do  we  not  always  say  that  you 
ought  to  judge  us  in  Capel  Sion  ?  Sure 
there  is  something  you  can  bear  witness  to 
before  we  go  on  with  the  old  hay.  Turn 
you  your  mind  now,  and  say  sayings  to 
us." 

"  Think  you  truly  I  ought  to  be  a 
preacher  ?  "  asked  Pedr,  his  eyes  shining 
with  vanity.  "  There's  happy  would  I 
be  if  they'd  let  me  preach  from  a  pulpit 
bach." 

Sadrach  the  Large  then  addressed  Pedr  : 

"  Preach  you  to  us  for  ten  minutes,  and 
I'll  take  a  hat  round  for  a  collection. 
Indeed  to  goodness,  I  will  now." 

"  Sadrach  !  Sadrach  !  >!  said  Martha, 
"  what  for  you  make  such  a  foolish 
promise  ?  Man,  man,  you  are  as  silly  as 
Pedr.  Come,  little  people,  have  you  not 
rested  long  enough  ?  " 
144 


A   JUST   MAN    IN   SODOM 


But  Pedr,  open-mouthed,  was  standing 
in  the  cart ;  his  large  eyes  looked  upon 
the  fertile  land  between  him  and  Avon 
Bern,  where  grazed  Sadrach's  cows,  the 
best  herd  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  where 
flourished  Sadrach's  corn,  the  most  plea- 
sing sight  in  all  the  land.  Sadrach  the 
Small  threw  at  him  a  handful  of  horse-dung, 
which  fell  on  Pedr's  open  lips  and  the 
never-shaved  hairs  that  curled  on  his  chin. 

44  Pedr,  indeed  to  goodness,  there's  slow 
are  you,  man,"  remarked  Sadrach  the 
Large. 

"  Praying  was  I,  Sadrach  bach,  for 
strength  to  speak  unto  this  gathering." 

44  Sober  now,"  said  Sadrach  the  Large, 
44  you  must  not  go  as  far  as  that." 

Pedr  took  a  text  and  spoke  to  the 
people,  whereon  one  turned  to  the  other, 
whispering  : 

44  Dull  Pedr  brays  like  a  mule." 

From  where  he  was  lying  on  the  ground 
Sadrach  the  Small  cried  : 
L  145 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  Tell  us,  Pedr,  man,  about  the  vision 
you  had  the  last  night  but  one.  Do  you 
be  soon." 

"  Woe  is  me  !  "  exclaimed  Pedr.  "  The 
Big  Man  forgive  me  for  forgetting  what 
the  little  white  Jesus  told  me." 

"  Come  on,  Pedr ;  come  on,  Pedr," 
cried  the  haymakers. 

Pedr  gazed  on  those  below  him. 

"  Boys  bach  nice,"  he  said,  "  Jesus  did 
speak  to  me  about  you,  and  He  did  say 
things  of  great  concern  about  Capel  Sion. 
My  dears,  do  you  let  Pedr  now  say  a  small 
prayer  first." 

Pedr  closed  his  eyes,  and  while  he  sang 
Sadrach  the  Small  crawled  forward  on  his 
belly  and  dug  the  prongs  of  his  pitching- 
fork  into  him. 

"  The  message  !  The  message  !  "  he 
cried.  "  Jasto,  what  a  jolt-headed  mare 
you  are." 

"  Do  you  let  the  fool  be,"  said 
Martha.  "  What  is  the  matter  for 
146 


A   JUST   MAN    IN   SODOM 


you,  man  ?      Come   down   from   the   old 
cart." 

Pedr  eyed  the  people  indulgently. 

"  Wasn't  that  a  fairish  prayer  ?  >!    he 
asked. 

"  As  good  as  Bryn-Bevan's,"  was  the 
response. 

"As  good  as  Bryn-Bevan's!"  repeated 
Pedr. 

"  Iss,  iss,  you  old  owl.  Deliver  the 
message." 

"  Does  not  the  least  among  you  think 
he  is  wiser  than  Pedr  ?  "  he  reproached 
them.  "  But  am  I  not  rich  in  grace  ? 
To  whom  did  the  little  white  Jesus  come 
last  night  ?  He  never  visited  even  Essec. 
For  why  ?  Because  when  old  Essec  was 
dying  he  said  wily  words  to  his  son  Joshua 
Llanwen :  '  Keep  your  purse  full  and  the 
strings  tight,  and  nothing  will  fail  you.'  : 

"  But,  Pedr,"  Sadrach  the  Large  ex- 
plained, "  Essec  meant  these  things  to 
come  after  religion." 

147 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  Did  he  now  ?  "  said  Pedr.  "  Dear  me, 
there's  a  blockhead  am  I.  I  did  not 
know." 

"  If  I  die,  Pedr  is  madder  than  ever  !  " 
said  one. 

"  Oh,  I  am  wise  to-day.  Pedr  is  wise 
with  the  wisdom  of  God.  Am  I  not  among 
the  prophets  ?  See  you,  I  am  come  after 
little  Elijah,  and  Jeremiah,  and  Daniel. 
What  a  boy  brave  Dan  bach  was,  for 
sure.  The  white  Jesus  said  to  me,  '  Pedr, 
I  look  to  you  to  save  Capel  Sion.'  ! 

"  If  we  let  the  dog  go  on  blaspheming," 
Martha  interrupted,  "  the  revengeful  Big 
Man  will  punish  us  with  rain  before  half 
the  hay  is  in  stack." 

"  I  am  a  man  of  God,"  Pedr  drivelled. 
"  Hearken  you  now  to  my  voice,  for  do 
not  my  sayings  come  from  Him  whose 
mercy  is  as  bountiful  as  the  hay  around  us, 
and  whose  anger  is  as  furious  as  the  bull 
who  frightened  Achsah  the  wife  of  Sadrach 
into  giving  birth  to  Sadrach  the  Small  on 
148 


A   JUST   MAN    IN   SODOM 


the  threshold  of  Danyrefail.  '  The  children 
of  Capel  Sion,'  said  the  little  white  Jesus, 
'  are  walking  in  the  ways  of  the  Bad  Man.' ' 

"  Pedr  bach,"  said  Sadrach  the  Large, 
"  have  you  care  now.  Don't  you,  little 
male,  trifle  with  the  name  of  the  Big  Man." 

Pedr  closed  his  ears  against  the  warning. 

"  The  Big  Man  is  angry  with  you,"  he 
resumed,  "  and  His  anger  consumes  like 
the  fire  which  ate  up  the  hay  of  Griffith 
Graig,  though  His  mercy  is  as  the  waters 
of  Morfa.  '  Pedr  bach,'  said  the  little 
white  Jesus,  '  tell  you  them  to  turn  away 
from  their  adulterous  ways,  for  when  the 
Lord  hurteth  a  man  He  hurteth  him  to 
death.  Tell  you  them  that  they  are  as 
wicked  as  the  old  blacks  of  Sodom.'  " 

Sadrach  the  Small  flung  a  rake  at 
Pedr's  head. 

"  Now,  now,  that  is  not  like  the  off- 
spring of  a  religious  father,"  Sadrach  the 
Large  rebuked  his  son.  "  Be  you  calm, 
my  child.  The  temptation  is  great,  but 
149 


MY   PEOPLE 


remember  you  that  Pedr  is  not  sensible  in 
his  head." 

"  O  people,"  Pedr  continued,  "  listen. 
Thus  said  the  Big  Man :  4  Capel  Sion 
has  become  as  a  temple  of  pig  buyers ;  a 
woman  without  glory.  Pedr  bach,  do  you 
say  to  them  that  I  will  destroy  their  crops 
and  rot  their  bones,  that  not  one  male, 
nor  female,  nor  child  shall  rise  from  the 
grave  when  my  little  servant  Gabriel 
blows  on  his  old  trumpet.  They  will 
abide  among  the  filthy,  creeping  things 
of  the  earth.'  " 

Martha  interposed :  "  Throw  you  the 
vain  crow  out,  Sadrach,  else  sure  some- 
thing bad  will  hap  to  me  and  your  father 
for  harbouring  him  in  our  land." 

Pedr  continued  :  "  Said  the  little  white 
Jesus :  '  Mind  you,  Pedr  bach,  not  to 
forget  to  tell  the  sons  of  Capel  Sion  that 
they  have  thieved  from  the  widow  and  the 
orphan  ;  tell  you  the  daughters  too,  Pedr 
bach,  that  they  speak  slander  and  deal 
150 


A   JUST   MAN    IN   SODOM 


lightly  with  the  things  that  are  holy  in  my 
sight.'  There's  sayings  for  you!  What 
for  you  laugh,  boys  bach  ?  Is  not  the 
Judge  of  the  earth  right  ?  Would  you 
laugh  at  Daniel  ?  At  Elijah  ?  Why  for 
you  laugh  ?  You  will  have,  dear  me,  to 
change  your  thinks  if  you  will  wear  the 
White  Shirts." 

So  Pedr  assumed  the  mantle  of  a  prophet. 
Children  mocked  him  and  stoned  him,  and 
threw  clods  of  earth  at  him ;  men  and 
women  reviled  him,  inquiring  of  him 
always :  "  How  now,  Pedr,  anything  new 
from  the  Palace  ?  " 

He  left  the  house  where  he  dwelt,  and 
went  to  live  on  the  moor.  There,  on  the 
brim  of  the  stone  quarry,  he  built  a  hut 
of  mud,  and  the  roof  he  covered  with  dry 
heather,  and  at  a  distance  of  eight  feet 
therefrom  he  threw  up  a  mound  of  earth 
which  he  called  an  altar  and  he  dedicated 
it  unto  God. 

In  the  hut  he  fasted   and  meditated, 
151 


MY   PEOPLE 


and  by  the  altar  he  prayed  continu- 
ally. 

The  evening  of  the  fifth  day  after 
Sadrach's  hay  had  been  stacked  a  heavy 
rain  fell  upon  West  Wales,  and  this  rain 
lasted  many  days,  destroying  much  of  the 
crops.  The  men  of  the  Big  Seat  proved 
the  congregation,  and  they  found  that 
Sion  was  without  sin,  hence  this  deluge 
of  rain  was  not  a  judgment  upon  Sion. 
They  also  gathered  themselves  together 
and  prayed  for  deliverance. 

Pedr  journeyed  down  from  the  moor 
and  waited  outside  the  gates  that  admit 
you  into  Capel  Sion,  and  as  the  congrega- 
tion departed,  he  cried  : 

"  Little  people,  why  value  you  the  things 
that  perish  more  than  the  living  soul  ?  " 

Sadrach  Danyrefail  derided  him. 

"  A  bad  prophet  you  are  indeed,"  he 

said.     "  What  for  you  didn't  say  the  rain 

was  coming,  man,  so  as  to  save  all  this 

nasty  bother  ?    Goodness  me,  you  are  a 

152 


A    JUST   MAN    IN    SODOM 


frog  !  There's  vexed  Martha  is  since  you 
waggled  your  wild  tongue  in  the  hayfield. 
Prophet  !  Who  made  you  judge  in  Capel 
Sion  ?  Think  you  the  Big  Man  chooses 
you  before  me  and  the  Respected  Bryn- 
Bevan  to  be  His  mouthpiece  ?  " 

"  Woe  to  you,  Sadrach  Danyrefail,"  an- 
nounced Pedr.  "  Your  dishonour  makes 
the  little  angels  weep." 

Sadrach  spat  in  his  face. 

"  Dear  people "  began  Pedr. 

"Pedr,"  said  Sadrach,  "bits  of  sermons 
now  and  again  are  all  right,  but  when  you 
take  the  name  of  the  Big  Man  in  vain, 
well-well,  it  is  very  sinful." 

"  My  soul,"  exclaimed  Pedr,  "  is*as  clean 
as  the  soul  of  Elijah." 

"Hearken  you  now,  Pedr,"  said  Sadrach 
jestingly,  "can  you  bring  the  dead  to 
life  ?  Elijah  could.  And,  dear  me,  where 
are  your  sacrifices  ?  You  can't  bring  an 
old  turnip  to  life,  man." 

The  people  pushed  Pedr  hither  and 
153 


MY   PEOPLE 


thither.  In  his  terror  he  cried  loudly  to 
God  to  protect  his  skin,  but  his  words 
did  not  save  his  body  from  a  stone  nor 
a  clod  of  earth. 

All  through  that  night  Pedr  prayed  at 
tHe  side  of  the  altar  he  had  dedicated  unto 
the  Big  Father. 

When  Sadrach  the  Small  fetched  the 
cows  in  the  morning,  which  was  the  Sab- 
bath, he  saw  that  the  bull-calf  was  missing. 
He  searched  in  all  the  field  and  in  many 
of  those  of  his  neighbours.  Returning  to 
Danyrefail,  he  climbed  up  into  his  father's 
room. 

"Little  father,"  he  said,  "the  old  bull- 
calf  is  lost,  man." 

"  Now  careless  some  one  has  been.  Was 
the  gate  shut,  Sadrach  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  iss,  it  was." 

"  The  calf  couldn't  open  the  gate, 
boy,"  said  Martha. 

"  Wise  your  speech,"  said  Sadrach  the 
Large.  "  Hie  you  and  look  again.  But 
154 


A   JUST   MAN    IN   SODOM 


mouth  you  to  no  one  your  mission.  Re- 
collect that  this  is  the  Sabbath.  Still,  it  is 
not  sinning  to  look  for  a  lost  sheep  on  the 
Sabbath,  but  let  it  not  be  said  that  a  bad 
sampler  comes  from  Danyrefail." 

That  Sabbath  morning  Pedr  hailed  a 
man  who  was  crossing  the  moor  to  Capel 
Sion. 

"  Man  bach,"  he  said  to  him,  "  do  you 
hurry  quickly  now,  and  tell  them  in  Sion 
to  come  up  the  mountain,  because  this 
day  the  Big  Creator  is  manifesting 
Himself.  For  this  hour,  man  bach, 
you  are  a  messenger  of  the  white  little 
Jesus." 

The  man  laughed  the  news  to  those 
with  whom  he  fell  in.  He  laughed  it  to 
Sadrach  the  Large. 

"  The  old  cuckoo  must  be  sent  to  the 
House  of  the  Mad,"  said  Sadrach. 

Sadrach  walked  as  far  as  the  gates  of 
Capel  Sion,  then  he  turned  back  and  went 
up  to  the  moor.     As  he  neared  the  hut, 
155 


MY   PEOPLE 


Pedr  ran  to  him  and  threw  his  arm  around 
his  neck. 

"  Sadrach  Danyrefail,"  he  said,  "  there's 
joyous  I  am  you've  come.  Sing  a  hymn 
of  gladness,  Sadrach  Danyrefail,  for  to-day 
the  Bad  Man  departs  from  Capel  Sion." 

Pedr  led  Sadrach  to  the  altar,  and  on 
the  top  of  it  was  the  bull-calf,  slowly 
bleeding  to  death. 

"Son  of  hell! "  cried  Sadrach  when  he  saw 
what  Pedr  had  done.  "  For  what  dp  you 
do  this  with  my  calf  which  is  worth  great 
yellow  gold  ?  I'll  have  the  law  on  you  in 
half  an  hour,  even  if  it  is  the  Sabbath." 

He  hit  out  with  his  arm,  and  Pedr  fell 
against  the  altar,  and  the  blood  of  the 
calf  dropped  upon  his  face. 

"  Dear  Sadrach,"  he  said  when  he  had 
risen  to  his  feet,  "  this  is  the  sacrifice  that 
is  going  to  wipe  away  the  sins  of  Capel 
Sodom.  Indeed,  indeed,  it  is  now.  But, 
lo,  the  Big  Man  is  not  meanly.  He  is 
satisfied  with  the  blood  only.  Look  you 
156 


A   JUST   MAN    IN    SODOM 


now,  I  will  bring  back  your  old  calf  to 
life.  The  white  Jesus  will  do  this  for  His 
prophet." 

Pedr  removed  the  blood  from  his  fore- 
head, because  it  was  oozing  into  his  eyes, 
with  a  little  heather,  and  he  went  and 
stood  on  the  altar  ;  and  he  turned  his 
face  on  the  dying  calf  and  stretched  forth 
his  hands. 

"  In  the  name  of  the  little  white  Jesus, 
return  you  to  life,  little  bull-calf,"  he  said. 
"  Jesus  bach,  do  you  bring  this  about  for 
the  sake  of  your  servant's  good  name." 


157 


BE    THIS    HER    MEMORIAL 


159 


IX 
BE    THIS    HER    MEMORIAL 

MICE  and  rats,  as  it  is  said,  frequent  neither 
churches  nor  poor  men's  homes.  The  story 
I  have  to  tell  you  about  Nanni — the 
Nanni  who  was  hustled  on  her  way  to 
prayer-meeting  by  the  Bad  Man,  who  saw 
the  phantom  mourners  bearing  away  Twm 
Tybach's  coffin,  who  saw  the  Spirit  Hounds 
and  heard  their  meanings  two  days  before 
Isaac  Penparc  took  wing — the  story  I 
have  to  tell  you  contradicts  that  theory. 

Nanni  was  religious ;  and  she  was  old. 
No  one  knew  how  old  she  was,  for  she  said 
that  she  remembered  the  birth  of  each 
person  that  gathered  in  Capel  Sion ;  she 
was  so  old  th^t  her  age  had  ceased  to 
concern. 

M  161 


MY  PEOPLE 


She  lived  in  the  mud-walled,  straw- 
thatched  cottage  on  the  steep  road  which 
goes  up  from  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and 
ends  at  the  tramping  way  that  takes  you 
into  Cardigan  town  ;  if  you  happen  to  be 
travelling  that  way  you  may  still  see  the 
roofless  walls  which  were  silent  witnesses  to 
Nanni's  great  sacrifice — a  sacrifice  surely 
counted  unto  her  for  righteousness,  though 
in  her  search  for  God  she  fell  down  and 
worshipped  at  the  feet  of  a  god. 

Nanni's  income  was  three  shillings  and 
ninepence  a  week.  That  sum  was  allowed 
her  by  Abel  Shones,  the  officer  for  Poor 
Relief,  who  each  pay-day  never  forgot  to 
remind  the  crooked,  wrinkled,  toothless 
old  woman  how  much  she  owed  to  him 
and  God. 

"  If  it  was  not  for  me,  little  Nanni,"  Abel 
was  in  the  habit  of  telling  her,  "  you  would 
be  in  the  House  of  the  Poor  long  ago." 

At  that  remark  Nanni  would  shiver  and 
tremble. 

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BE  THIS   HER  MEMORIAL 


"  Dear  heart,"  she  would  say  in  the 
third  person,  for  Abel  was  a  mighty  man 
and  the  holder  of  a  proud  office,  "  I  pray 
for  him  night  and  day." 

Nanni  spoke, the  truth,  for  she  did  re- 
member Abel  in  her  prayers.  But  the 
workhouse  held  for  her  none  of  the  terrors 
it  holds  for  her  poverty-stricken  sisters. 
Life  was  life  anywhere,  in  cottage  or  in 
poorhouse,  though  with  this  difference  : 
her  liberty  in  the  poorhouse  would  be  so 
curtailed  that  no  more  would  she  be  able 
to  listen  to  the  spirit-laden  eloquence  of 
the  Respected  Josiah  Bryn-Bevan.  She 
helped  to  bring  Josiah  into  the  world  ; 
she  swaddled  him  in  her  own  flannel 
petticoat ;  she  watched  him  going  to  and 
coming  from  school ;  she  knitted  for  him 
four  pairs  of  strong  stockings  to  mark  his 
going  out  into  the  world  as  a  farm  servant ; 
and  when  the  boy,  having  obeyed  the 
command  of  the  Big  Man,  was  called  to 
minister  to  the  congregation  of  Capel  Sion, 
163 


MY   PEOPLE 


even  Josiah's  mother  was  not  more  vain 
than  Old  Nanni.  Hence  Nanni  struggled 
on  less  than  three  shillings  and  ninepence 
a  week,  for  did  she  not  give  a  tenth  of 
her  income  to  the  treasury  of  the  Capel  ? 
Unconsciously  she  came  to  regard  Josiah 
as  greater  than  God  :  God  was  abstract ; 
Josiah  was  real. 

As  Josiah  played  a  part  in  Nanni's  life, 
so  did  a  Seller  of  Bibles  play  a  minor  part 
in  the  last  few  days  of  her  travail.  The 
man  came  to  Nanni's  cottage  the  evening 
of  the  day  of  the  rumour  that  the  Respected 
Josiah  Bryn-Bevan  had  received  a  call 
from  a  wealthy  sister  church  in  Aberyst- 
wyth.  Broken  with  grief,  Nanni,  the  first 
time  for  many  years,  bent  her  stiffened 
limbs  and  addressed  herself  to  the  living 
God. 

"  Dear  little  Big  Man,"  she  prayed, 
"  let  not  your  son  bach  religious  depart." 

Then  she  recalled  how  good  God  had 
been  to  her,  how  He  had  permitted  her 
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BE   THIS   HER   MEMORIAL 


to  listen  to  His  son's  voice ;  and  another 
fear  struck  her  heart. 

"  Dear  little  Big  Man,"  she  muttered 
between  her  blackened  gums,  "  do  you 
now  let  me  live  to  hear  the  boy's  farewell 
words." 

At  that  moment  the  Seller  of  Bibles 
raised  the  latch  of  the  door. 

"  The  Big  Man  be  with  this  household," 
he  said,  placing  his  pack  on  Nanni's  bed. 

"  Sit  you  down,"  said  Nanni,  "  and  rest 
yourself,  for  you  must  be  weary." 

"Man,"  replied  the  Seller  of  Bibles,  "is 
never  weary  of  well-doing." 

Nanny  dusted  for  him  a  chair. 

"  No,  no  ;  indeed  now,"  he  said  ;  "  1 
cannot  tarry  long,  woman.  Do  you  not 
know  that  I  am  the  Big  Man's  messenger  ? 
Am  I  not  honoured  to  take  His  word  into 
the  highways  and  byways,  and  has  He 
not  sent  me  here  ?  " 

He  unstrapped  his  pack,  and  showed 
Nanni  a  gaudy  volume  with  a  clasp 
165 


MY   PEOPLE 


of  brass,  and  containing  many  coloured 
prints ;  the  pictures  he  explained  at 
hazard :  here  was  a  tall-hatted  John 
baptising,  here  a  Roman-featured  Christ 
praying  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane, 
here  a  frock-coated  Moses  and  the  Tablets. 

"  A  Book,"  said  he,  "  which  ought  to  be 
on  the  table  of  every  Christian  home." 

"  Truth  you  speak,  little  man,"  re- 
marked Nanni.  "  What  shall  I  say  to 
you  you  are  asking  for  it  ?  " 

"  It  has  a  price  far  above  rubies,"  an 
swered  the  Seller  of  Bibles.  He  turned 
over  the  leaves  and  read  :  "  '  The  labourer 
is  worthy  of  his  hire.'  Thus  is  it  written. 
I  will  let  you  have  one  copy — one  copy 
only — at  cost  price." 

"  How  good  you  are,  dear  me  !  ):  ex- 
claimed Nanni. 

"  This  I  can  do,"  said  the  Seller  of  Bibles, 
"  because  my  Master  is  the  Big  Man." 

"  Speak  you  now  what  the  cost  price 


is." 


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"  A  little  sovereign,  that  is  all." 

"  Dear,  dear ;  the  Word  of  the  little 
Big  Man  for  a  sovereign  !  " 

"  Keep  you  the  Book  on  your  parlour 
table  for  a  week.  Maybe  others  who  are 
thirsty  will  see  it." 

Then  the  Seller  of  Bibles  sang  a  prayer ; 
and  he  departed. 

Before  the  week  was  over  the  Respected 
Josiah  Bryn-Bevan  announced  from  his 
pulpit  that  in  the  call  he  had  discerned 
the  voice  of  God  bidding  him  go  forth  into 
the  vineyard. 

Nanni  went  home  and  prayed  to  the 
merciful  God  : 

"  Dear  little  Big  Man,  spare  me  to  listen 
to  the  farewell  sermon  of  your  saint." 

Nanni  informed  the  Seller  of  Bibles  that 
she  would  buy  the  Book,  and  she  asked 
him  to  take  it  away  with  him  and  have 
written  inside  it  an  inscription  to  the 
effect  that  it  was  a  gift  from  the  least 
worthy  of  his  flock  to  the  Respected 
167 


MY   PEOPLE 


Josiah  Bryn-Bevan,  D.D.,  and  she  re- 
quested him  to  bring  it  back  to  her  on  the 
eve  of  the  minister's  farewell  sermon. 

She  then  hammered  hobnails  into  the 
soles  of  her  boots,  so  as  to  render  them 
more  durable  for  tramping  to  such  capels 
as  Bryn-Bevan  happened  to  be  preaching 
in.  Her  absences  from  home  became  a 
byword,  occurring  as  they  did  in  the  hay- 
making season.  Her  labour  was  wanted 
in  the  fields.  It  was  the  property  of 
the  community,  the  community  which 
paid  her  three  shillings  and  ninepence  a 
week. 

One  night  Sadrach  Danyrefail  called  at 
her  cottage  to  commandeer  her  services  for 
the  next  day.  His  crop  had  been  on  the 
ground  for  a  fortnight,  and  now  that  there 
was  a  prospect  of  fair  weather  he  was 
anxious  to  gather  it  in.  Sadrach  was 
going  to  say  hard  things  to  Nanni,  but  the 
appearance  of  the  gleaming-eyed  creature 
that  drew  back  the  bolts  of  the  door  fright- 
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ened  him  and  tied  his  tongue.  He  was 
glad  that  the  old  woman  did  not  invite 
him  inside,  for  from  within  there  issued  an 
abominable  smell  such  as  might  have  come 
from  the  boiler  of  the  witch  who  one  time 
lived  on  the  moor.  In  the  morning  he  saw 
Nanni  trudging  towards  a  distant  capel 
where  the  Respected  Josiah  Bryn-Bevan 
was  delivering  a  sermon  in  the  evening. 
She  looked  less  bent  and  not  so  shrivelled 
up  as  she  did  the  night  before.  Clearly, 
sleep  had  given  her  fresh  vitality. 

Two  Sabbaths  before  the  farewell  ser- 
mon was  to  be  preached  Nanni  came  to 
Capel  Sion  with  an  ugly  sore  at  the  side 
of  her  mouth ;  repulsive  matter  oozed 
slowly  from  it,  forming  into  a  head,  and 
then  coursing  thickly  down  her  chin  on  to 
the  shoulder  of  her  black  cape,  where  it 
glistened  among  the  beads.  On  occasions 
her  lips  tightened,  and  she  swished  a  hand 
angrily  across  her  face. 

"  Old  Nanni,"  folk  remarked  while  dis- 
169 


MY   PEOPLE 


cussing  her  over  their  dinner-tables,  "  is 
getting  as  dirty  as  an  old  sow." 

During  the  week  two  more  sores  ap- 
peared ;  the  next  Sabbath  Nanni  had  a 
strip  of  calico  drawn  over  her  face. 

Early  on  the  eve  of  the  farewell  Sabbath 
the  Seller  of  Bibles  arrived  with  the 
•Book,  and  Nanni  gave  him  a  sovereign 
in  small  money.  She  packed  it  up 
reverently,  and  betook  herself  to  Sadrach 
Danyrefail  to  ask  him  to  make  the  pre- 
sentation. 

At  the  end  of  his  sermon  the  Respected 
Josiah  Bryn-Bevan  made  reference  to  the 
giver  of  the  Bible,  and  grieved  that  she  was 
not  in  the  Capel.  He  dwelt  on  her  sacri- 
fice. Here  was  a  Book  to  be  treasured, 
and  he  could  think  of  no  one  who  would 
treasure  it  better  than  Sadrach  Danyrefail, 
to  whom  he  would  hand  it  in  recogni- 
tion of  his  work  in  the  School  of  the 
Sabbath. 

In  the  morning  the  Respected  Josiah 
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Bryn-Bevan,  making  a  tour  of  his  congre- 
gation, bethought  himself  of  Nanni.  The 
thought  came  to  him  on  leaving  Danyre- 
fail,  the  distance  betwixt  which  andNanni's 
cottage  is  two  fields.  He  opened  the  door 
and  called  out : 

"  Nanni." 

None  answered. 

He  entered  the  room.  Nanni  was  on 
the  floor. 

"  Nanni,  Nanni !  "  he  said.  "  Why  for 
you  do  not  reply  to  me  ?  Am  I  not  your 
shepherd  ?  " 

There  was  no  movement  from  Nanni. 
Mishtir  Bryn-Bevan  went  on  his  knees  and 
peered  at  her.  Her  hands  were  clasped 
tightly  together,  as  though  guarding  some 
great  treasure.  The  minister  raised  him- 
self and  prised  them  apart  with  the  ferrule 
of  his  walking-stick.  A  roasted  rat  re- 
vealed itself.  Mishtir  Bryn-Bevan  stood 
for  several  moments  spellbound  and  silent ; 
and  in  the  stillness  the  rats  crept  boldly 
171 


MY   PEOPLE 


out  of  their  hiding  places  and  resumed  their 
attack  on  Nanni's  face.  The  minister, 
startled  and  horrified,  fled  from  the  house 
of  sacrifice. 


172 


THE    REDEEMER 


173 


X 

\ 

THE  REDEEMER 

ADAM    the    son  of    Bern-Davydd — Bern- 
Davydd  being  the   Ruler  of  Capel   Sion 
before  the  day  of  Bryn-Bevan — was  walk- 
ing along  the  Road  of  the  Romans,  the 
narrow  way  that  begins  at  the  forehead  of 
the  School  and  disappears  in  the  heather 
of  the  moor.     His  companion  was  Lissi, 
the  servant  of  Ellen  the  Weaver's  Widow. 
Midway  there  is  a  breach  in  the  hedge, 
wherein,  on  a  big  stone,  Adam  and  Lissi 
rested,    and    while    they    rested    Joshua 
Llanwen  came  upon  them.     Joshua  said  : 
"  Say  you  are  Adam  the  son   of  Bern- 
Davydd,  boy,  and  the  wench  Lissi  ?  " 
"  Iss,  iss,  little  Adam  am  I." 
"Now  what  for  you  mean  to  be  here 
in  the  dark  ?  "  said  Joshua. 
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MY   PEOPLE 


Adam  arose  to  his  feet  and  answered : 

"  Goodness  me,  Josh  bach,  are  we  not 
going  home  ?  " 

"  What  a  big  iob  you  are,  you  bull- 
calf  !  J!l  Joshua  shouted.  "  Why  for  you 
are  an  old  cow,  man  ?  The  other  road 
is  to  the  Shepherd's  Abode.  Have  I  not 
pledged  that  this  is  not  to  happen  ?  " 

He  clenched  his  hand  and  thrust  out  the 
joint  of  his  second  finger,  and  therewith 
dealt  Adam  three  blows  on  the  face.  Adam 
fell  into  the  hedge,  and  while  he  nursed 
his  sores  he  moaned  : 

"  Dear  Josh  bach,  why  then  you  are  so 
hasty,  man  ?  Sure  now  you  have  cut  my 
nice  face  ! >! 

Joshua,  ignoring  the  plaint,  turned 
upon  Lissi : 

"  Back  you  hie,  you  brazen  slut !  Turn 
your  wicked  eyes  and  foul  heart  to  Ellen's 
loom-shed.  You  sow,  walk  you  off  in 
front  of  me." 

Lissi  obeyed  ;    as  she  moved  towards 

ire 


THE   REDEEMER 


the  School  Joshua  raised  his  foot  and 
kicked  her. 

Presently  Adam  scrambled  over  the 
hedge  and  across  pasture-land  and  gorse 
hurried  to  his  father's  house.  This  he  did 
because  he  was  feared  of  meeting  Joshua 
on  the  road. 

Bern-Davydd  heard  the  sound  of  the 
gate  opening,  whereupon  he  lifted  his  eyes 
to  his  son  Lamech  and  to  Lamech's  wife 
Puah,  and  said  : 

"  Don't  you  muchly  catechise  Adam.  Is 
not  Joshua  an  eager  counsellor  ?  Perhaps 
his  sayings  have  brought  reason  into  the 
boy's  heart.  Make  pretence  you  are  read- 
ing your  old  books." 

Thus,  when  Adam  came  into  the  room, 
no  face  was  raised  to  him,  nor  voice  said 
to  him :  "  Dear  me  now,  who  has  come 
for  fresh  garments  this  day  ?  Much  silver 
the  tailor  is  gathering,"  or  "  Well- well, 
little  Adam,  now  that  you've  come,  our 
religious  father  will  thank  the  Big  Father 
N  177 


MY   PEOPLE 


for  the  mercies  of  the  hour,  and  we'll  go 
to  bed,"  this  latter  being  the  fashion  the 
household  of  Bern-Davydd  had  of  spend- 
ing the  last  wakeful  moments  of  the  eve 
of  the  Sabbath.  The  transparent  china 
lamp  on  the  tinsel-draped  mantelpiece 
lit  up  the  group  on  the  hearth  :  Bern- 
Davydd,  a  loosely-woven  rope  of  whitish 
hair  like  a  coil  of  sheep's  wool  which  has 
been  caught  in  a  barbed  wire,  and  ex- 
posed many  days  to  the  weather,  extend- 
ing from  ear  to  ear ;  Lamech,  the  ball  of 
his  small  nose  glittering  against  swarthy 
skin  and  bushy  black  beard  and  mous- 
tache :  Puah,  her  feet  resting  on  the 
fender,  and  the  tuft  of  red  hair  on  the 
right  side  of  her  mouth  shivering  like 
boar's  hairs  between  the  fingers  of  an 
ancient  cobbler  as  she  turned  over  the 
leaves  of  the  book  she  was  not  reading. 

Adam  unravelled  his  leather  boot-laces, 
speaking  the  meanwhile  : 

"  Dear  folk,  a  sober  thing  has  hap- 
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THE   REDEEMER 


pened  to  me  this  night.  Seven  times  did 
Joshua  Llanwen  beat  my  face.  Puah, 
look  you  at  me  now.  Touch  my  hand 
and  speak  to  them  how  it  trembles." 

Puah  showed  kindness  to  him  and  did 
as  he  had  asked  her. 

"  Iss,  indeed,"  she  said,  "  there's  blood 
on  your  cheeks,  Adam  bach." 

"  What  foolish  man  Josh  is  !  Has  he 
not  opened  the  gash  I  did  with  the  razor  ?  " 

Lamech  chided  from  his  chair : 

"  Brother  Adam,  heard  you  never  of 
the  speech  of  the  Man  of  Terror,  saying, 
4  Vengeance  is  mine  '  ?  " 

"  Little  Lamech,  did  not  Joshua  strike 
me  seven  times  on  my  nice  chin  ?  " 

"  Adam,  the  son  of  Bern-Davydd,  listen 
you  to  me,  man.  Is  it  not  written,  *  Hard 
is  the  way  of  the  transgressor  '  ?  " 

The  Respected  Bern-Davydd  said  : 

"  Let  me  speak  to  the  Big  Man." 

A  period  of  twelve  years  divided  these 
two  sons  of  Bern-Davydd,  the  years  of 
179 


MY   PEOPLE 


Lamech,  the  elder,  being  fifty-two.  At  the 
age  of  forty-eight  Lamech  wedded  Puah 
the  widow  of  John  Shop  Morfa,  at  whose 
death  she  inherited  the  shop,  many  book 
debts,  and  much  gold ;  and  now,  the 
harvest  of  debts  having  been  gathered  in 
and  the  shop  sold,  Lamech  received  a  call 
to  preach  the  Word,  and  was  spending  a 
little  time  in  the  Shepherd's  Abode  before 
entering  College  Carmarthen. 

But  Adam  the  younger  son  was  imbued 
with  little  understanding ;  he  had  never 
risen  above  working  in  Shop  Pugh  Tailor. 
Six  months  before  this  night  he  had  desired 
Lissi,  the  squint-eyed  girl  that  Ellen  the 
Weaver's  widow  got  from  Castellybryn 
Poorhouse.  He  had  sent  her  a  letter, 
which  Samson  Post  spoke  in  the  public 
places.  Thereafter  Lissi  waited  for  Adam 
every  night  outside  Shop  Pugh  Tailor. 

His  doings  came  to  the  ears  of  Lamech 
and  Puah,  who  shook  their  heads  dismally, 
the  wife  saying  to  her  husband  : 
180 


"  Vile  is  Adam  to  covet  the  flesh  of  a 
poorhouse  brat." 

"  Doleful  is  my  heart  and  anxious," 
said  Lamech. 

"  Go  you  and  tell  our  father  about  this 
madness,"  observed  Puah. 

Lamech  opened  his  Bible  for  spiritual 
guidance ;  he  read  aloud  these  words  : 
"  Ye  shall  bring  down  my  gray  hairs  with 
sorrow  to  the  grave." 

"  Throw  you  your  light  of  wisdom  on 
the  speech,  Lamech,"  said  Puah. 

"  The  Big  Man  means  that  it's  better 
for  others  to  tell  our  father.  Adam  may 
plead  that  what  we  say  is  not  true,  and 
we  will  be  rebuked.  Let  some  cunning 
one  go  and  bear  witness." 

Puah  tied  her  wide  bonnet  strings  under 
her  chin,  and  drew  on  her  feet  her  elastic- 
side  boots,  and  went  to  Llanwen  and  told 
Joshua  to  go  and  inform  her  father-in- 
law  of  the  wickedness  of  Adam. 

"  For  why  he  is  so  blind,  Respected 
181 


MY   PEOPLE 


Bern-Davydd  ?  "  said  Joshua.  "  And  he 
our  ruler  too  !  If  he  cannot  perceive  the 
enemy  in  his  own  household,  how  expect  he 
to  find  him  among  the  congregation  ?  One 
of  his  own  lambs  goes  astray." 

'*  Joshua  Llanwen,  speak  you  plain  to 


me  now." 


"  Is  not  that  ram  of  an  Adam  courting 
Lissi,  the  poorhouse  bitch  that  works  at 
Ellen's  loom?  The  pig  that  cackles  his 
son  to  the  Pool !  The  bellows  that  blows 
him  into  the  arms  of  Satan  !  Why  do 
Adam  and  her  go  each  night  on  the  Road 
of  the  Romans  ?  Bern-Davydd,  this  is  no 
light  matter  to  him." 

"  Woe  is  me  ! J1  cried  Bern-Davydd. 
"  A  sinner  from  my  loins  !  .  .  .  This  must 
end.  Joshua  Llanwen,  be  you  another 
Paul.  Keep  watch  over  my  son  on  the 
Road  of  the  Romans.  Stay  in  hiding,  and 
if  you  see  anything  wrong,  show  yourself, 
and  counsel  him,  and  drive  the  evil  spirit 
out  of  him." 

182 


THE   REDEEMER 


So  Adam  came  home  with  blood  on 
his  chin,  hence  Bern-Davydd  knew  that 
Joshua  Llanwen  had  performed  his  ser- 
vices faithfully  ;  and  on  many  occasions 
Joshua  chastised  Adam  with  his  tongue, 
and  his  fists,  and  with  the  oaken  club  he 
employed  to  break  in  horses.  Yet  Adam 
would  not  leave  off  courting  Lissi. 

One  night  Bern-Davydd  and  his  son 
Lamech  spoke  to  Adam  of  their  grief. 
Bern-Davydd  said  :  "  Uncomfortable  you 
make  us.  There's  little  you  show  yourself 
in  the  sight  of  Capel  Sion." 

"  Mouth  you  to  us  now,"  said  Lamech, 
"  that  you  will  let  the  bad  wench  be." 

"  Iss,  say  you  like  that,"  said  Puah. 
"  Think  you  the  Big  Man  has  chosen  such 
as  Lissi  to  be  a  Bern-Davydd  ?  " 

"  Little  people,"  answered  Adam, 
"  shortsighted  you  be  then.  Expect  you, 
Lamech,  the  Big  Father  to  perform  a 
miracle  with  Puah  as  He  did  with  Sara  ? 
Will  she  conceive  and  bear  for  you  a 
183 


MY   PEOPLE 


child  ?  Puah  has  passed  her  fruitfulness, 
and  am  I  not  the  hope  of  the  Bern- 
Davydds  ?  " 

"  But,  dull  Adam  bach,"  said  Puah, 
"  why  do  you  go  low  for  a  female  ?  Mercy 
me  !  Lissi  a  Bern-Davydd  !  Repent  you 
now,  and  be  a  goldy  boy." 

Bern-Davydd's  heart  hardened  against 
his  stubborn  son,  and  the  colour  of  his  face 
became  that  of  the  sun-dried  walls  of  the 
quarry  on  the  moor  ;  and  he  informed  God 
of  a  just  punishment  for  those  who  rebel. 

Soon  people  began  to  whisper  that 
before  long  Adam  would  be  a  father ;  the 
whisper  rose  into  a  shout,  and  it  was 
cried  on  the  tramping  way,  and  even  at 
the  gates  of  Capel  Sion.  Bern-Davydd 
and  Lamech  heard  it,  and  they  trembled. 
The  father  proclaimed  from  the  pulpit  : 

"  I  have  searched  my  soul  for  some  sin 

that,  unbeknown  to  myself,  I  might  have 

committed.     Did  I  find  any  ?    No,  indeed 

to  goodness,  now,  I  didn't.     Yet  the  Big 

184 


THE   REDEEMER 


Man's  hand  is  hard  on  the  innocent.  My 
clean  heart  is  bowed  with  shame.  Why  does 
the  Big  Father  punish  His  child  so  ?  Last 
night  I  said  to  Him  :  '  Lead  me,  big  Je- 
hovah bach.'  Perhaps,  dear  me,  Adam 
has  inherited  the  vanity  of  his  mother 
Silah.  Pray  for  her,  you  boys  bach  re- 
ligious of  the  Lord." 

Three  mournful  days  passed,  then  Bern- 
Davydd  said  to  Lamech  : 

"  Go  down  and  examine  the  dirty  clod. 
Look  you  for  signs  if  she  is  indeed  with 
child.  The  wench  may  be  crafty  in  the 
manner  of  her  clothes.  And,  little  saintly 
son,  get  you  her  to  admit  that  others  have 
been  with  her." 

Puah  interrupted :  "I  will  go  with 
Lamech,  for  I  am  a  woman,  and  do  I  not 
understand  the  signs  ?  " 

Lissi  was  at  her  loom  when  Lamech  and 
Puah  came  into  the  shed. 

"  Hai,  the  dirty  wench  !  Walk  here 
and  stand  forth,  you  hussy,"  cried  Lamech. 
185 


MY   PEOPLE 


Lissi  rose  from  her  loom  and  came  to 
Lamech  and  his  wife,  and  as  she  got  near 
they  observed  that  the  front  of  the  girl's 
petticoat  hung  high  and  away  from  her 
clogs  and  grey  stockings. 

"Ach  y  fi!  Take,"  said  Puah,  "the 
stuffing  away  from  your  belly." 

"Indeed  me,"  answered  Lissi,  "not 
stuffing  is  here  for  surely.  Full  is  my 
skin." 

"  O  you  Jezebel !  "  Puah  cried.  "  Tell 
me,  you  ugly  creature,  how  with  your 
squint  you  tempted  Adam  bach." 

"  Speak  of  the  others  who  have  been 
bad  with  you,"  said  Lamech. 

Lissi,  her  mouth  expressing  an  unin- 
telligible grin,  her  large  fingers  twisting 
and  untwisting  a  length  of  yarn,  stood 
before  them  mute  as  a  sheep  in  the  hands 
of  the  shearer. 

"  Indeed  to  goodness  now,"  Puah  went 
on,  "  imagine  you  that  Adam  will  marry 

you  ?  " 

186 


THE   REDEEMER 


The  girl  whined :  "  He'll  have  to.  Ellen 
says  I  can  petty  sessions  him  if  he  refuses." 

"  For  sure  now,  Lissi,  Adam  is  not  the 
father  of  the  child,"  Puah  said. 

"  What  for  you  talk,"  Lissi  replied, 
her  spirit  rising,  "  for  was  he  not  bad 
with  me  the  night  Josiah  Llanwen's  bull- 
calf  perished  ?  J: 

"  Iss,  Lissi  fach,"  said  Puah,  "  Josh 
Llanwen  did  this  and  that  to  your  flesh." 

"No,  indeed,  he  didn't." 

"  Lissi,  Lissi,  that  night  on  the  Road  of 
the  Romans,  now.  .  .  .  Iss,  iss,  of  course 
he  was.  Did  he  not  put  you  on  the  old 
stone  ?  " 

"  No,  no." 

"  Josh  has  repented,"  Puah  said.  "  Does 
he  not  say,  '  I  am  the  father  of  Lissi's 
child  '  ?  " 

"  Sure  me,  Joshua  is  the  father,"  said 

Lamech.       "  His   poor  old  flesh   couldn't 

withstand    the    temptation.     But    Capel 

Sion  won't  be  hard  on  you,  Lissi,  nor  on 

187 


MY   PEOPLE 


Josh.  Isn't  he  the  father,  little  daughter 
fach  ?  " 

"  For  sure,  no,"  answered  Lissi.  "  Josh 
Llanwen  is  important  in  Sion.  Is 
not  Priscila  his  wife  ?  The  father  of  the 
child  is  Adam.  Did  not  Ellen  peep  into 
the  shed  ?  " 

"  Be  you  religious,  Lissi,"  Puah  urged. 
"  Do  you  admit  to  Josh.  If  you  die  in 
childbirth  there's  glad  you'll  be  that  you 
won't  cross  the  Jordan  with  a  lie  in  your 
head." 

"  Great  will  be  your  reward,"  Lamech 
added.  "  You  can  say  to  the  Large  Spirit, 
4 1  am  the  truth.'  " 

"  But  Joshua  has  not  been  bad  with 
me,"  Lissi  persisted. 

After  the  result  of  this  conversation  had 
been  reported  to  Bern-Davydd,  Puah 
spoke  to  her  father-in-law.  Her  words 
pleased  him,  and  he  marvelled  at  her 
skill  and  prudence. 

Dusk  having  fallen,  Puah  went  over 
188 


THE   REDEEMER 


pasture  and  gorse  to  the  Road  of  the 
Romans.  In  the  breach  in  the  hedge  she 
hid  behind  the  stone,  and  she  remained 
there  until  Adam  and  Lissi  came  by  ;  and 
when  she  heard  the  girl  coming  back  alone 
she  placed  over  herself  a  bed  sheet,  and 
thus  covered  she  stood  in  the  middle  of 
the  way.  Lissi  saw  her  thus  arrayed,  and 
she  was  very  frightened.  She  threw  off 
her  clogs  and  ran.  Before  she  reached 
the  forehead  of  the  School  she  was  over- 
taken by  unfamiliar  pains.  .  .  .  The  child 
she  delivered — a  man  child — was  dead, 
and  from  her  travail  Lissi  passed  into 
madness. 


189 


AS    IT    IS    WRITTEN 


191 


XI 
AS    IT    IS    WRITTEN 

SAMSON  POST  placed  his  arms  on  the  gate 
of  the  close  of  Penyrallt,  and  cried  loudly  : 

"  Mali !  Mali !  Be  you  quick  and  come, 
woman.  Have  I  not  a  letter  from  your 
son  Dan  ?  Mali  fach,  do  you  haste  now. 
Woe  me,  there's  provoking  you  are  to 
keep  the  post  waiting  !  " 

From  the  inside  of  the  pigsty  Mali 
answered  : 

"  What  old  hurry  you  are  in,  man  I 
Do  you  wait  one  little  minute  and  I'll  be 
with  you." 

Mali  stooped  her  legs  because  she  was 
too  fat  to  bend  the  middle  of  her  body, 
and  came  forth  out  of  the  pigsty,  and 
0  193 


MY   PEOPLE 


while  she  scraped  off  the  refuse  from  off 
the  sides  of  her  clogs,  she  called  out : 

"  A  writing  from  Dan,  Samson  bach  ?  " 

"  Iss,  iss,"  answered  Samson,  "  take  you 
the  old  letter." 

"  Goodness  now,  whatever  does  the 
boy  say  then  ?  Little  Samson,  don't  you 
stand  there  like  doited  idiot.  Speak  Dan 
bach's  words." 

"  Dan  says  he  is  coming  home  for  a 
small  holiday,"  said  Samson,  opening 
the  envelope.  "  And  he  is  bringing  a  maid 
with  him." 

"  What  for  you  say  jokes,  man  !  Be 
serious  and  truthful." 

"  Mali  the  daughter  of  Mati  and  the 
wife  of  Shaci,  truthful  I  am,  indeed,  dear 
me." 

"  Peer  at  the  letter  now,  Samson  bach, 
and  interpret  it  to  me  without  deceit," 
said  Mali. 

"  Woman  alive,  not  joking  am  I. 
Do  I  not  speech  that  Dan  and  his 
194. 


AS    IT    IS   WRITTEN 


maid  will  be  home  on  the  third  day 
then  ?  " 

"  Dan  bach  and  his  maid !  Serious 
now  ?  Who  may  she  be  ?  Samson,  Sam- 
son, there's  shut  up  you  are.  Tell  her 
name,  man  ?  " 

"  Curious  was  Mati  your  old  mother, 
and  curious  you  are,  Mali.  But  wait  a 
bit  now  while  I  have  another  peep  at  the 
old  letter.  .  .  .  Dear,  where  is  she  ?  Here 
she  is.  Alice  Wite — that's  her  name, 
Mali.  Miss  Wite." 

"  That's  vile  English,"  said  Mali. 

"'English,  little  Mali." 

"  Doesn't  the  boy  say  how  much  yellow 
gold  she  possesses  ?  " 

"  No-no,  woman." 

"  Then  she  hasn't  got  any.  Wite,  in- 
deed !  There's  a  bad  concubine !  For 
what  then  Dan  doesn't  throw  gravel  at 
the  window  of  some  tidy  wench  who  can 
speak  his  native  tongue  !  " 

Mali  threw  her  voice  across  the  close 
195 


MY   PEOPLE 


and  into  the  corner  of  the  field  which  is 
behind  the  barn  where  Shaci  her  husband 
was  thatching  his  hay. 

"  Shaci,  man  !  Are  you  deaf  then,  for 
sure  !  Why  you  do  not  listen  ?  Come  you 
here  at  once." 

Shaci  came  down  to  the  earth  and  walked 
to  the  gate  slowly,  for  though  he  was  not 
old,  he  stooped  because  of  much  earth  toil. 

When  he  was  within  twenty  paces  of  her, 
Mali  called  to  him  : 

"  Samson  the  Post  does  say  that  Dan 
bach  is  coming  home  on  the  third  day  with 
an  old  bitch  of  an  English  maid.  A  cow 
as  poor  as  a  church  mouse,  I  wager." 

"  Iss,  iss,  Shaci  bach,"  said  Samson 
the  Post,  "what  talk  there  is  in  Shop 
Rhys  about  Dan  1  The  religious  Respected 
Bryn-Bevan  was  there,  and  did  he  not 
say  that  the  abodes  of  the  old  English  are 
refreshment  places  on  the  way  to  the 
Pool  ?  Grand  indeed  he  spoke.  Like  a 


sermon." 


196 


AS    IT    IS   WRITTEN 


"  Whatever  is  the  matter  with  the 
boy  ?  "  said  Shaci.  "  Little  Samson,  read 
you  writing  of  the  letter  now  to  me." 

"  Shaci !  Shaci  !  "  Samson  admonished 
him.  "  Inconsiderate  you  are,  man. 
Know  you  not  that  I  am  the  post  ?  Has 
there  not  been  a  letter  in  my  bag  for  three 
days  for  the  owl  of  a  Schoolin'  telling  him 
the  day  of  Sara's  funeral  ?  " 

Mali  was  sorrowful  that  her  son  Dan 
was  to  be  charged  with  this  fault,  and  she 
said  to  her  husband  : 

"  Shaci  bach,  here's  disgrace.  Put  your 
old  head  into  the  words  that  Dan  has 
written." 

But  Samson  the  Post  had  taken  away 
the  letter. 

"  Full  of  wrath  am  I,"  said  Shaci. 

"  Heard  you  what  the  old  Satan  said 
about  the  Respected  Bryn-Bevan  ?  " 

"  Iss,  iss." 

"  This  thing  must  not  come  to  pass. 
How  shall  we  hold  up  our  heads  in 
197 


MY   PEOPLE 


Capel  Sion  if  Dan  weds  an  old  foreign 
leech  ?  " 

Shaci  went  out,  and  while  he  was  labour- 
ing he  thought  out  a  device  and  he  came 
into  the  house  to  take  counsel  of  his  wife. 
This  is  what  he  said  to  Mali : 

"  Hearken  to  my  speech,  now,  Mali 
fach.  I  will,  dear  me,  go  to  Mistress 
Morgan  Post  and  ask  her  to  send  a  little 
telegram  to  Dan  saying,  '  Remember  Capel 
Sion,  Dan  bach.'  " 

"  Why  speak  so  wasteful  ?  "  Mali  re- 
plied. "  Six  red  pennies  old  telegrams 
cost,  and  is  not  Mistress  Morgan  meanly  ? 
She  won't  take  a  small  penny  off  the 
price." 

"  True-true.     Iss,  indeed." 

Night  came  on,  and  Shaci  read  the 
words  with  which  Moses  praised  the  Big 
Man  for  the  deliverance  of  the  children  of 
Israel  from  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians. 

But  Mali  did  not  hear  anything  of  that 
which  Shaci  said  under  the  open  chimney 
198 


AS    IT    IS   WRITTEN 


or  that  which  he  read  by  the  light  of  the 
tallow  candle.  She  felt  shame  for  Dan,  her 
son,  whose  name  would  be  denounced  from 
the  pulpit  and  spoken  with  scorn  by  the 
congregation,  and  she  remembered  his 
deeds,  first  and  last.  Dear  people,  why  was 
it  destined  for  Dan  to  trespass  in  the  eyes 
of  Sion  ?  Heart  alive,  are  not  the  evil  ways 
of  the  English  known  far  and  wide  ?  And 
their  helpless  wastefulness  ?  Look  you  at 
Owen,  the  son  of  Antony.  Owen  was  in  a 
grand  shop  draper  in  Swansea.  He  took  to 
himself  as  wife  a  daughter  of  the  English, 
and  she  kept  a  house  for  lodgers.  Good- 
ness me,  is  it  not  engraved  on  Owen's 
tombstone  in  the  Old  Burial  Ground  in 
Capel  Sion  that  he  left  only  one  hundred 
yellow  sovereigns  ?  Does  not  Antony 
lament  to  this  day  that  Owen  bach  would 
have  left  half  a  hundred  more  yellow 
sovereigns  if  he  had  wedded  a  Welsh 
maid?  Little  Big  Man,  for  why  has  not 
a  Welsh  maid,  with  a  bit  of  land  in  her 
199 


MY   PEOPLE 


own  name,  found  favour  with  Dan  bach  ? 
There's  sad  it  is. 

Shaci  closed  his  Bible. 

"  Pray  will  I  now,  Mali  fach,"  he  said, 
"  for  Dan." 

"  What  for  you  pray,  Shaci,"  answered 
Mali,  "  and  do  nothing  ?  Say  now  we 
got  Sadrach  Danyrefail  to  come  and  speak 
to  the  boy." 

"  Good  that  would  be." 

"  And  Joshua  Llanwen." 

"  He  too  is  a  man  of  God." 

Shaci  went  to  Llanwen  and  spoke  to 
Joshua  by  the  ditch  under  the  house. 

"  Mali  is  wanting  you  to  speak  wise 
words  to  Dan,"  he  said. 

"  Dan's  sins  have  reached  my  ears," 
said  Joshua.  "  By  and  by  I  will  say 
phrases  to  the  dear  Big  Man,  and  the 
words  of  the  Terrible  One  will  scorch  your 
son  Dan." 

Shaci  then  went  across  the  fields  (for 
this  horrid  thing  made  him  fearsome  of 
200 


AS    IT    IS   WRITTEN 


showing  his  face  to  his  neighbours,  lest 
they  should  reproach  him)  to  Danyrefail. 

"  Shaci !  Shaci !  Go  you  and  wash  your 
dirty  old  heart,"  cried  Martha  to  him. 
"  Unworthy  you  are." 

"  Now-now,  humble  is  my  carcase," 
replied  Shaci. 

44  But  are  you  humble  before  the  Al- 
mighty ?  '  cried  Martha  the  stranger 
woman  of  Danyrefail.  "  Drato,  go  on 
your  dirty  knees,  old  boy  ugly." 

44  There's  no  more  spirit  left  in  me, 
little  Martha,"  said  Shaci.  44  Do  you  now 
in  the  godliness  of  your  heart  say  to 
Sadrach  the  Large  that  I  seek  his  in- 
struction." 

Sadrach  took  Shaci  aside  to  speak  to 
him  quietly. 

44  Sure,  little  Shaci,"  he  ended,  t4  come 
I  will  to  prove  this  foreign  hussy  with 
hard  questions." 

So  Shaci's  heart  was  lightened,  and  he 
walked  home  over  the  tramping  road ; 
201 


MY   PEOPLE 


and  though  many  asked  him  this  and 
thus,  he  saw  none  mocking  him  to  his 
face. 

When  he  got  home  Mali  was  moaning 
her  grief  to  Bertha  Daviss,  and  Rhys 
Shop,  and  Sali  the  wife  of  Old  Shemmi. 

"  For  why  does  poor  Dan  bach  want  to 
bring  home  a  bad  woman  from  the  Eng- 
lish ?  "  she  said.  "  Alice  Wite.  There's 
a  nasty  wench  !  The  cunning  serpent  to 
lure  away  my  boy  bach.  And  I  dare 
wager  she  is  as  poor  as  Old  Nanni's 
rats." 

Rhys  Shop  opened  his  lips  and  made 
utterance : 

"  Vain  are  the  English  women  who  work 
in  these  shops.  Did  not  Tom  Hughes, 
the  traveller,  say  they  are  all  wasteful  ?  " 

"  And,  little  Rhys,"  Bertha  Daviss  said, 
"  did  he  not  say  they  are  barren  ?  Sober  ! 
Sober !  " 

"  Recollect  you  the  female  maid  who 
stayed  with  Wynne  the  vicar  ?  "  said  Sali 
202 


AS    IT    IS   WRITTEN 


the  wife  of  Old  Shemmi.  "  Goodness, 
what  an  old  girl  she  was,  for  sure  !  She 
washed  her  flesh  on  the  Sabbath  in  Avon 
Bern." 

"  Say  not  like  that,"  Rhys  Shop  inter- 
rupted. 

"  Iss,  she  did.  Did  not  word  of  her 
doings  reach  Shemmi's  ears,  and  did  he 
not  hide  himself  behind  Sadrach's  hedge 
to  see  the  shameless  woman  for  himself  ? 
And  she  used  to  take  her  old  pagan  dog 
for  walks  over  the  fields  on  the  afternoons 
of  the  Sabbath." 

"  Dear  people,"  said  Rhys  Shop,  "  have 
we  not  much  to  be  thankful  for  to  the  Big 
Man  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  iss,"  said  Bertha  Daviss. 

"  The  white  little  Jesus  will  do  me  badly 
if  I  give  the  bitch  a  bed  in  my  house," 
said  Mali. 

"  Tell  you  me  now  what  you  are  going 
to  do  with  her  ?  "  asked  Sali  the  wife  of 
Old  Shemmi. 

203 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  Sadrach  the  Large  and  Joshua  Llan- 
wen  will  prove  her,"  answered  Shaci. 

"  Proper  indeed  to  ask  the  Respected 
Bryn-Bevan  to  speak  to  her  also,"  said 
Bertha.  "  Go  you  off,  the  two  of  you 
together,  and  speak  to  him." 

Mali  followed  closely  behind  Shaci,  and 
she  was  weeping  the  whole  of  the  way, 
and  her  grief  was  so  much  that  she  spoke 
to  none  of  the  people  who  asked  of  her  : 
"  Mali  fach,  what  for  you  weep,  woman 
nice?" 

"  Come  into  the  cowshed,  sinners  bach," 
said  the  Respected  Bryn-Bevan  ;  "  the 
mistress  has  been  washing  the  flags.  Ho, 
iss,  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  hard  upon 
you  this  day." 

"  Iss,  Respected  bach,"  said  Shaci. 

"  This  thing,  Shaci,  does  not  please  me. 
Samson  Post  came  to  me  for  guidance,  and 
we  agreed  that  Wite  is  not  a  Welsh  word. 
Ho,  Shaci,  no  one  in  the  Book  of  Words 
is  named  Wite." 

204 


AS    IT    IS   WRITTEN 


"  Mishtir  Bryn-Bevan  !  " 

"  Not  one,  indeed." 

"  Awful,"  said  Shaci. 

"  Sinful,"  said  the  minister. 

"  Do  him  come  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  five  in  the  afternoon  and  say  a  speech," 
said  Mali.  "  Thankful  will  we  be  if  he  do 
this  great  deed." 

"  Sure  me,  I'll  come,  Shaci.  Has  not 
the  Big  Man  called  me  to  judge  over 
Sion  ?  I'll  talk  fair  to  the  wench,  and  if 
she  bears  herself  without  modesty  in  my 
presence  then  I  will  deal  mightily  with 
her." 

Now  in  the  order  of  their  importance 
these  are  they  that  went  up  to  Penyrallt 
the  day  that  Dan  brought  home  a  daughter 
of  the  English :  the  Respected  Bryn- 
Bevan,  Sadrach  the  Large,  Joshua  Llan- 
wen,  Rhys  Shop,  Sali  the  wife  of  Old 
Shemmi,  Bertha  Daviss. 

The  Respected  Bryn-Bevan  sat  at  the 
round  table  in  the  parlour,  and  the  door  of 
205 


MY    PEOPLE 


the  parlour  was  kept  open  so  that  his  voice 
reached  the  others  who  sat  in  the  kitchen. 

Mishtir  Bryn-Bevan's  reading  of  the 
seventh  chapter  of  Proverbs  ended  when 
Shaci  brought  his  horse  and  cart  into  the 
close. 

Rhys  Shop  rose  to  his  feet  and  moved 
towards  the  outer  door. 

Mishtir  Bryn-Bevan  spoke  wrathfully. 

"  Rhys  Shop,"  he  cried,  "  an  old  black 
you  are  to  forget  that  I  am  here  !  >: 

The  minister  strode  through  the  kitchen: 
the  people  remarked  the  dignity  of  his 
stride  and  marvelled. 

Shaci  approached  him,  shaking  his  head, 
and  saying, 

"  The  old  wench  does  not  speak  Welsh." 

Mishtir  Bryn-Bevan  stood  on  the  thresh- 
old, his  feet  far  from  each  other ;  and  he 
stretched  forth  his  right  arm,  and  his  hand 
was  covered  in  black  kid,  and  he  cried  : 

"  Halt,  you  female  woman.  Why  you 
come  here  to  spoil  this  godly  house  ?  Dan 
206 


AS    IT    IS   WRITTEN 


who  is  in  a  shop  draper  in  Llanelly  and 
who  is  the  son  of  Mali  and  Shaei,  why  must 
you  tempt  the  Big  Man  to  anger,  boy  ? 
Mournful  is  your  dirt.  Pack  you  the 
woman  about  her  business;  let  her  walk 
in  shame  back  to  her  own  people." 

The  woman's  lips  quivered,  and  she  was 
neither  young  nor  pretty. 

Mali  came  down  to  her. 

"  Our  little  daughter,"  she  said,  "  dost 
her  come  here  to  take  our  son  bach  away 
from  us  now  ?  Let  her  him  be.  Shaci  will 
take  her  back  to  Castellybryn  in  the  old 
cart." 

The  woman  whom  Dan  had  brought 
home  could  not  answer  a  word,  because 
she  did  not  know  the  meaning  of  the  words 
Mali  had  spoken.  Dan  was  about  to  open 
his  lips,  when  Sadrach  addressed  the 
minister. 

"  Mishtir  Bryn-Bevan,"  he  said,  "  you 
are  a  great  scholar.     Do  you  inquire  of 
the  fool  if  she  can  milk  a  cow." 
207 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  Iss,"  said  Joshua  Llanwen,  "  and  if 
she  can  clean  a  stable." 

"  And  tell  the  rat  of  a  bitch,"  shouted 
Mali,  "  that  Dan  won't  get  a  red  penny 
piece  after  us." 

"  But,  mam  fach,"  Dan  broke  in,  "  what 
does  that  matter  ?  Is  not  Alice  the  owner 
of  a  nice  shop  draper  ?  " 

Mali  now  went  to  Dan,  and  she  called 
him  her  own  boy  bach,  and  the  son  of  his 
mother ;  and  she  took  Dan  and  his  maid 
into  the  parlour,  and  closed  the  door  on 
them. 

Returning  to  the  congregation,  she 
delivered  to  them  this  speech  : 

"  There's  good  you  were  to  come.  Dan's 
maid,  dear  me,  has  travelled  a  long  dis- 
tance this  day.  Weary  she  is.  Gracious 
now,  isn't  she  tidy  ?  English  she  may  be, 
but  has  not  the  Big  Man  told  us  to  love  our 
enemies  ?  Shop  Draper  !  There's  wealth 
for  you.  Rhys,  come  you  up  on  a  night 
and  speak  to  her." 

208 


AS    IT    IS   WRITTEN 


To  her  husband  Shaci  she  said  : 
'*  Go  you  off  away  down  to  the  Shop  and 
get  white  flour.     I  will  make  a  little  lot  of 
pancakes  for  Dan's  maid.     Be  you  fleet 
of  foot." 


209 


A    BUNDLE    OF    LIFE 


211 


XII 
A   BUNDLE    OF    LIFE 

WORD  reached  Jos  Gernos — Gernos  is  on 
the  brink  of  the  ascent  into  the  sea  of 
Morfa — that  the  inheritance  of  Leisa  the 
only  child  of  Nansi  and  Silas  Penlon  was 
to  be  nearly  one  hundred  acres  of  land  and 
all  the  gold  that  had  been  gathered  by 
Silas.  After  deliberating  on  this  for  a 
day,  Jos  said  to  his  mother  that  he  was 
going  forth  to  compromise  Leisa ;  he 
strapped  whipcord  leggings  over  his  legs, 
and  saddled  his  pony,  and  rode  out  to 
Penlon ;  but  Leisa  did  not  respond  to 
the  small  stones  he  threw  at  her  window. 
Jos  went  back  to  Gernos,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing he  wrote  a  letter  to  Leisa,  and  he 
sent  it  by  the  hand  of  Samson  Post,  and 
213 


MY   PEOPLE 


he  waited  for  an  answer  until  after  the 
Sabbath,  but  none  came.  Jos  refused 
to  give  over  his  design  on  Leisa's  inherit- 
ance, because  he  had  much  need  of  money : 
on  the  fourth  night  Leisa  took  out  the 
paper  that  filled  a  broken  pane  in  the 
window  and  cried  to  him  : 

"  Say  from  where  you  are  ?  " 

"  Boy  bach  from  Gernos  am  I,"  said  Jos. 

"  Indeed,  boy  bach,  all  right ;  is  not  the 
old  ladder  in  the  cowhouse  ?  ' 

Three  weeks  expired  and  on  a  day  Jos 
rode  away  from  Penlon  before  sunrise, 
and  returned  when  Nansi  was  putting  the 
milk  into  the  separator. 

"  Little  Jos,"  she  said,  "  for  why  he  is 
so  early  ?  '' 

"Woman,  woman,"  replied  Jos,  "now- 
now,  do  I  not  bring  with  me  a  ring  for 
wedding  ?  Look  you,  indeed." 

Nansi's  face  was  bound  with  bands  of 
flannel,  which  day  and  night  wear  had 
made  hard,  and  which  stood  on  her  cheeks 
214 


A   BUNDLE    OF   LIFE 


in  the  manner  of  a  horse's  bonnet.  Her 
upper  lip  was  broken  into  a  gap  that  let 
out  a  little  blood  while  she  spoke,  and  this 
blood  she  licked  away  with  her  tongue. 

"  What  did  he  give  for  the  old  ring  ?  " 
she  asked.  "  A  crown,  shall  I  say  ?  " 

Jos  showed  his  narrow  teeth.  "  A 
yellow  sovereign  all  but  a  crown,"  he 
answered.  "  If  I  die,  go  she  and  speak 
to  Peter  Shop  Watches  in  Castellybryn." 

"  Little  Jos  Gernos,"  said  Nansi, 
"  there's  wasteful  he  is.  Why  he  now  go 
to  Betti  the  widow  of  Shim,  and  say  to 
her :  '  Betti  fach,  lend  you  me  your  old 
ring  for  to  wed  Leisa  the  daughter  of  Silas 
Penlon.  In  want  you  are,  Betti,  and  I 
will  reward  you  with  buttermilk.'  " 

Jos  shifted  a  foot,  and  placed  it  near  the 
milk  that  had  escaped  and  had  formed 
into  a  small  pool  in  a  hollow  in  the  earthen 
floor. 

"Jos,  Jos,  what  a  frog  he  is!"  Nansi 
admonished  him.  "  Don't  he  move  his 
215 


MY  PEOPLE 


foot  now  till  I  have  scooped  the  precious 
milk  up  into  a  clean  pan." 

Having  done  this,  Nansi  called  :  "  Silas 
now,  Jos  Gernos  is  here  with  his  old  ring." 

Silas,  straightway  from  his  bed  and  clad 
in  flannel  drawers  and  soleless  stockings, 
entered  the  zinc-roofed  dairy. 

"  Did  he  go  to  the  fair  ?  "  he  asked 
Jos. 

"  Iss,  iss,  little  man." 

"  How  was  the  prices  now  ?  >! 

"  Sober,  little  man.     Sober  bad." 

"  Did  he  sell  his  colt  ?  Dewi  says  he 
had  one  to  sell." 

'*  What  Dewi  says  is  the  truth." 

"  What  did  the  old  colt  bring  ?  " 

"  Little  man,  I  didn't  sell." 

Jos  placed  a  wooden  bowl  into  the  milk 
and  drank  therefrom. 

"  Well,  Silas  Penlon,"  he  observed, 
"  here  is  the  costly  ring.  Has  he  matter 
to  say  why  Leisa  should  not  share  my 
bed  ?  " 

216 


A   BUNDLE    OF   LIFE 


"  Not  that  I  know  of,  Jos  Gernos.  But 
do  he  marry  from  Gernos,  for  Nansi  here 
has  not  time  to  see  to  these  things." 

After  they  had  spoken  about  this  which 
was  going  to  happen,  and  Jos  had  gone 
his  way,  Nansi  said  these  words  in  praise 
of  Jos. 

"  Old  Jos  is  very  tidy." 

Silas  clothed  himself  and  went  to  the 
house  of  Bertha  Daviss,  and  Bertha  cut 
three  carrots  into  small  pieces  and  fried 
them  for  him,  and  also  brewed  tea  for  him. 
Silas  seldom  ate  at  home;  had  not  Nansi  and 
Leisa  and  his  manservant  Dewi  enough  to 
do  with  the  care  of  ten  cows  and  ten  pigs 
and  three  horses  without  wasting  time  in 
the  preparation  of  food  ?  Thus  he  jour- 
neyed from  cottage  to  cottage,  at  each 
cottage  eating  fried  carrots  and  drinking 
tea.  That  was  the  period  when  his  riches 
made  him  a  power  in  the  land,  and  when 
housewives  pandered  to  him  because  of 
his  riches. 

217 


MY  PEOPLE 


"  Old  Jos  Gernos  is  talking  about  taking 
Leisa  to  his  bed,"  said  Silas. 

*'  What  you  call,  man  bach  ?  But 
large  has  been  the  courting  in  Penlon," 
said  Bertha. 

Silas  took  out  of  the  frying-pan  as  much 
of  the  carrots  as  would  fill  his  mouth. 

"  Glad  I'll  be  to  see  her  going,"  he  said. 
"  She's  lately  taken  to  attending  the 
foolish  singing  class  in  Capel  Sion.  And 
she  changes  her  garments  to  go  there." 

"  And  you  say  that,  little  Silas  I  Have 
you  killed  your  hay  yet  ?  >: 

"  Dewi  and  Nansi  are  killing  to-day." 

Silas  ate  and  drank,  and  departed. 

Noontide  he  was  sitting  on  the  gate  of 
the  field  in  which  Nansi  and  Dewi  were 
mowing  his  hay.  There  came  to  him  a 
stalwart  man  named  Abram  Bowen,  who 
then  was  the  chief  singing  man  in  Capel 
Sion. 

"  Dear  now,  very  good  crop  of  hay 
you've  got,  man,"  said  Abram  Bowen. 
218 


A   BUNDLE    OF   LIFE 


"  Silas    bach,    is    this    not    a    credit    to 

you  ? " 

Nansi  and  Dewi  were  approaching  the 
gate,  making  great  curves  with  their 
scythes.  Nansi  paused  and  looked  at 
the  men. 

"  Nansi,  you  silly  cow,"  cried  Silas, 
"  what  for  you  wait  ?  Dewi  will  cut  off 
your  little  legs  if  you  don't  go  faster.  Do 
you  hurry  now,  for  the  night  cometh." 

"  Happy  I  am  to  hear  you  saying  from 
the  Book  of  Words,"  said  Abram  Bowen. 
"  Dear,  dear,  am  I  not  always  holding  you 
up  as  a  religious  example  in  the  School 
of  Sabbath  ?  .  .  .  There's  old  talk  that 
Leisa  is  going  to  Gernos  ?  ': 

"  So  they  say,  Abram.     So  they  say." 

"  Pity  now  she's  leaving  the  singing- 
class.  She  mustn't  go  before  the  party 
bach  tries  at  Eisteddfod  Morfa." 

"  Well- well,  mouth  you  to  the  wench 
herself  about  that." 

•  •  •  •  • 

219 


MY   PEOPLE 


That  night  Leisa  heard  the  sound  of 
gravel  falling  on  the  pane  of  her  window. 
Through  the  hole  in  the  pane  she  called  out: 

"  You  blockhead  of  a  tadpole,  is  not 
the  old  ladder  by  the  pigsty  ?  >! 

Abram  Bowen  fetched  the  ladder  and 
climbed  into  Leisa's  room. 

"  Bad  jasto  !  "  Leisa  exclaimed,  when 
she  knew  who  her  visitor  was.  "  For 
why  you  was  not  Jos  Gernos  !  Abram 
Bowen,  you  frightened  me,  man,  you  did." 

A  tallow  candle  burnt  on  the  chair, 
and  Leisa  was  on  one  side  of  the  bed  and 
Abram  was  on  the  other  side. 

"  Put  on  petticoats  now,"  said  Abram. 
"  Not  religious  that  I  eye  any  of  your 
naked  flesh  bach.  But  don't  do  that, 
Leisa ;  I'll  blow  on  the  old  candle.  How 
speak  you  then  about  Eisteddfod  Morfa  ?  " 
•  •  •  •  • 

At  the  end  of  the  tenth  day,  when  Nansi 
was  pitching  the  last  load  of  hay  on  to  the 
stack,  Jos  Gernos  came  to  the  close  of 
220 


A   BUNDLE    OF   LIFE 


Penlon  and  he  took  his  pony  into  a  field 
and  said  to  him  :  "Go  you  now,  beast 
bach,  and  eat  a  little  grass."  Having 
done  that  he  came  into  the  barnyard  and 
censured  Nansi  severely  : 

"  Evil  Nansi,  for  what  she  has  not 
heard  about  her  daughter  Leisa  ?  " 

"  Sober,  sober,  what's  this  Jos  bach 
Gernos  would  say  to  me  now  ?  " 

"  Leisa  won't  wed  me  !  And  did  not  the 
old  ring  cost  me  a  whole  yellow  sovereign  ? 
As  I  live !  Go  you  and  ask  Peter  Shop 
Watches." 

Nansi,  not  ceasing  in  her  labour,  cried : 

"  Silas,  do  you  come  and  converse  with 
Jos  bach  Gernos." 

Silas  was  counting  up  the  irregular  lines, 
each  line  representing  a  load  of  hay,  which 
he  had  scratched  on  the  door  of  the  stable. 

"  Well,  Jos  Gernos  ?  "  asked  Silas. 

"  Leisa  says  she  won't  come  to  Gernos." 

"  Man,  man  !  " 

"  Iss,    the   female   is   wedding   Abram 
221 


MY   PEOPLE 


Bowen.  Try  he  to  make  her  sense  better, 
little  Silas." 

Thrice  Silas  spat  on  the  ground,  for  his 
mind  was  grief-stricken. 

"  Nansi,"  he  said,  "  Leisa  is  going 
against  her  father." 

"  So  Jos  Gernos  does  say." 

"  You  have  been  a  bad  mother  to  the 
wench,"  Silas  shouted.  '  What  for  you 
have  not  looked  after  her,  you  old  ram  ?  " 

Nansi  came  out  of  the  cart,  now  that  it 
was  empty,  and  raked  together  the  small 
hay  that  lay  scattered  on  the  ground, 
and  while  she  was  doing  this  she  said  : 

"  Silas  bach,  speak  you  not  harshly  to 
me  now.  Am  I  not  always  out  in  the 
fields  tending  the  animals  and  seeing  to 
the  crops  ?  Your  little  place  needs  a  lot  of 
watching." 

Silas  took  his  stick,  and  went  out  into 
the  high  roads  groaning. 

He  came  upon  Abram  Bowen  sitting  on 
a  log  of  wood  outside  his  mother's  house ; 
222 


A   BUNDLE    OF   LIFE 


marking  up  the  hymn-tunes  for  the 
Sabbath's  services,  and  humming  them 
over. 

"  Abram,"  said  Silas,  "  what's  this  do 
I  hear  about  you  ?  ' 

"  Speak  on,  little  Silas." 

"  Sure  now,  you  don't  speech  that 
Leisa  is  to  wed  you  ?  " 

"  Dear  me,  iss." 

"  Don't  you  be  hard  of  heart,  Abram 
bach,"  said  Silas.  "  Say  you  that  people 
are  voicing  lying  stories." 

"  Shameful  you  talk,  Silas  Penlon," 
Abram  said.  "  Angry  is  the  Big  Man 
against  you." 

"  Has  she  not  laid  with  Jos  Gernos  ? 
Has  not  the  boy  bought  a  ring  for  wed- 
ding ?  " 

Abram  Bowen  sang  : 

"  O   Silas   Penlon,    why    you    are    not 

religious  ?      Is     it     for     you     to     throw 

stones  ?     Old  male  you  are,  Silas,  indeed 

to    goodness,    and    the    time    is    shortly 

223 


MY   PEOPLE 


coming  for  you  to  be  screwed  down  in 
your  coffin." 

"  Abram  Bowen,"  Silas  urged,  "  do 
you  listen  to  reason  now,  there's  a  nice, 
godly  little  boy  bach." 

"  Silas  Penlon,"  answered  Abram,  "  I 
say  unto  you,  sinner,  that  you  will  go  down 
on  your  knees  and  thank  the  Big  Man 
that  I  came  to  Penlon.  Dear  me,  there's 
dirty  the  place  is,  man.  I  will  plough 
your  land  and  sow  seeds,  and  the  land 
will  be  yellow  with  corn." 

"  In  the  name  of  the  Big  Man,"  cried 
Silas,  "  you  shall  not  come  to  Penlon," 
and  he  was  going  to  hit  Abram  with  his 
stick. 

Abram  stayed  Silas's  arm,  saying: 
"Where  is  that  stick  with  you  ?  "  When 
he  had  taken  the  stick  away  from  him,  he 
said :  "  Wicked  you  are,  man.  Pray  to 
the  Big  Man  for  a  little  grace." 

Silas  moaned,  for  he  knew  that  Abram 
Bowen  was  a  man  of  nothing,  and  his  tears 
224 


A   BUNDLE    OF   LIFE 


mixed  with  the  tobacco  spittle  that 
dribbled  from  each  corner  of  his  mouth 
and  formed  curves  around  his  chin, 
and  stained  the  tannish  fringe  of  hair 
thereon. 

Leisa  wedded  Abrarn  Bowen,  and  in  a 
set  time  she  gave  birth  to  a  child,  whom 
Abram  named  Jos,  saying :  "  This  is 
Leisa's  bundle  of  sin." 

Abram  made  fruitful  the  starving  soil 
of  Penlon  ;  and  he  caused  a  brick  flooring 
to  be  put  in  the  dairy,  and  trained  Leisa 
to  wash  her  hands  before  separating  milk 
and  before  making  butter. 

And  as  Abram  grew  in  strength  and 
regard,  so  the  spirit  of  Silas  forsook  him. 
His  name  was  derided  at  wheresoever  it 
was  said,  and  people  sneered  at  him  in  his 
presence.  None  fried  carrots  nor  brewed 
tea  for  him  any  more.  He  submitted  unto 
the  new  King. 

Once  he  said  to  Bertha  Daviss  : 

"  Dammo,  boy  of  Satan  is  Abram." 
Q  225 


MY   PEOPLE 


Whereupon  Bertha  went  to  Penlon  and 
said  to  Abram  : 

"  Terrible  indeed  to  goodness  is  Silas's 
tongue  about  you,  little  Abram." 

Abram  ordered  Nansi  to  give  Bertha  a 
pat  of  butter,  and  then  hurried  to  the 
tramping  road.  He  met  Silas  outside 
Shop  Rhys,  and  in  the  eye  of  the  village 
he  thrashed  the  blasphemy  out  of  him. 
After  that  there  was  no  more  spirit  left 
in  Silas. 

In  their  day  Silas  and  Nansi  had  saved 
eighty  sovereigns,  and  when  Abram 
had  spent  all  that  money  in  improving 
the  land  and  the  outhouses  of  Penlon, 
he  called  up  Silas  and  Nansi  before 
him  : 

"  Silas  and  Nansi,"  he  said  to  them, 
"  have  I  not  been  long-suffering  with  your 
filthy  old  ways  ?  " 

"  Iss,  indeed,  little  Abram,"  replied 
Nansi,  "  like  the  white  little  Jesus  you 
are  to  us." 

226 


A   BUNDLE    OF   LIFE 


"  You  stink  like  an  old  sow,  Nansi," 
said  Abram. 

Nansi  whimpered :  "  Don't  you  be 
hard  on  me." 

"  Dear  me  now,"  Silas  said,  "  do  I  not 
bear  your  old  smell  ?  ': 

44  Ach  y  fi !  "  exclaimed  Abram.  "  Move 
away.  You  stuff  my  nose." 

Nansi  moved  back. 

"  Dear,  dear,"  said  Abram,  "  have  I  not 
prayed  all  the  night  then  ?  The  Big  Man 
say  you  and  Nansi  must  leave  Penlon." 

Nansi  breathed :  "  Abram,  little  Abram 
bach,  you  won't  send  us  off  away  ?  " 

"  You  are  a  drag  on  the  place,"  replied 
Abram.  "  Do  not  all  speak  about  your 
mudlike  ways,  then  ?  Every  one  got  eleven 
pennies  a  pound  for  butter  at  Castell- 
ybryn  on  Friday  ;  I  got  only  ten  pennies 
and  three  farthings.  People  said  :  '  Who 
will  eat  old  Nansi's  butter  ?  '  " 

"  Give  him  me  a  little  bed  alone  in  the 
barn  loft,  boy  bach  of  God,"  said  Silas. 
227 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  Why  speak  you  so  foolish  ? "  said 
Abram.  "  Where  am  I  to  put  the  straw 
and  the  fowls  ?  Little,  blockhead  bach, 
is  your  understanding  !  But  I  will  not 
deal  harshly  with  you.  You  two  can  live  in 
Old  Nanni's  cottage.  Very  happy  you'll 
be  there.  There's  no  rent  to  pay,  and 
you,  Silas,  can  mind  my  sheep  on  the 


rnoor." 


"  Man,  man,"  cried  Silas,  "  why  should 
I  leave  Penlon  ?  Did  not  my  father  give 
it  to  me  ?  " 

"  Silas,  indeed  to  goodness,"  said  Abram, 
"  for  sure  you  are  possessed.  Religious 
Big  Man,  give  you  now  me  strength — 
the  strength  you  gave  the  little  Apostles 
— to  cast  out  the  Evil  Spirit  from  old 
Silas." 

He  took  in  his  hand  his  new  carriage 
whip,  and  held  it  as  he  used  to  the  thresher, 
and  he  brought  the  thong  down  upon  Silas's 
back,  and  belly,  and  arms,  and  face. 

Nansi  made  weepful  sounds.  She 
228 


A   BUNDLE    OF   LIFE 


was  very  old,  and  she  wept  until  she 
could  weep  no  more. 

When  Silas's  make-believe  laughter  was 
turned  into  yells  of  pain,  Abram  his  son- 
in-law  said  : 

"  Get  you  up,  now,  Silas  the  sinner, 
and  ask  you  the  Big  Man  to  forgive  you 
your  trespasses." 

Silas  and  Nansi  made  ready  to  depart 
to  the  mud-walled,  straw-thatched  cottage 
in  which  the  rats  had  bitten  sores  into  old 
Nanni's  face  ;  before  they  set  out,  Abram 
brought  to  them  Jos,  Leisa's  first-born 
child. 

"  Take  you  this  brat  of  sin  with  you  now, 
little  people,"  he  said,  "  for  he  is  not  of  my 
bowels." 


229 


GREATER    THAN    LOVE 


231 


XIII 
GREATER    THAN    LOVE 

ESTHER  knew  the  sun  had  risen  because 
she  could  number  the  ripening  cheeses 
arrayed  on  the  floor  against  the  wall. 
She  threw  back  the  shawl  and  sacks 
that  covered  her,  and  descending  by 
the  ladder  into  the  kitchen,  withdrew  the 
bolt  and  opened  the  door. 

"  Goodness  all !  Late  terrible  am  I," 
she  said  to  the  young  man  who  entered. 
"  Bring  you  the  cows  in  a  hurry,  boy 
bach." 

"  Talk  you  like  that,  Esther,  when  the 
old  animals  are  in  the  close." 

Esther  knelt  on  the  hearth  and  lit  the 
dried  furze  thereon. 

233 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  The  buckets  are  in  the  milk-house," 
she  went  on.  "  Boy  bach,  hie  you  away 
off  and  make  a  start.  Come  I  will  as 
soon  as  I  am  ready." 

The  young  man  shuffled  across  the  floor 
into  the  dairy.  He  came  back  with  two 
buckets  and  a  wooden  tub,  and  he  placed 
the  tub  on  the  ground  and  sat  on  its 
edge. 

"  This  is  the  day  of  the  seaside,"  he 
said. 

Esther  turned  her  face  away  from  the 
smoke  that  ascended  from  the  fire. 

"  Indeed,  indeed,  now,  Sam  bach !  " 
she  cried,  "  and  you  don't  say  so 
then  !  " 

"  Esther  fach,  vexful  the  move  of  your 
tongue.  Say  to  me  whose  cart  is  carting 
you  ?  " 

"  Who  speeched  that  I  was  going,  Sam 
the  son  of  Ginni  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  be  laughing,  Esther.     Tell 
me  now  whose  cart  is  carting  you." 
234, 


GREATER   THAN   LOVE 


"  Go  I  would  for  sure  into  Morfa,  but, 
dear  me,  no  one  will  have  me,"  said 
Esther. 

"  What  for  you  cry  mischief  when 
there's  no  mischief  to  be  ? "  said 
Sam. 

Esther  tore  off  pieces  of  peat  and  ar- 
ranged them  lightly  on  the  furze. 

"  Nice  place  is  Morfa,"  she  observed. 

"  Girl  fach,  iss,"  Sam  said.  "  Nice  will 
be  to  go  out  in  Twmmi's  boat.  Speak 
you  that  you  will  spend  the  day  with 


me." 


"  How  say  Catrin  !  Sober  serious  1  How 
will  Catrin  the  daughter  of  Rachel  speak 
if  you  don't  go  with  her  ?  " 

"  Mention  you  Catrin,  Esther  fach,  what 
for  ?  " 

"  Is  there  not  loud  speakings  that  you 
have  courted  Catrin  in  bed  ?  Very  full  is 
her  belly." 

"  Esther  !  Esther  1  Why  you  make 
me  savage  like  an  old  rabbit  ?  Why  for 
235 


MY   PEOPLE 


play  old  pranks  ?  Wench  fach,  others  have 
been  into  Catrin.  If  I  die,  this  is  true. 
Do  you  believe  me  now  ?  >! 

Esther  plagued  him,  saying : 

"  Bring  me  small  fairings  home,  Sam 
bach.  Did  I  not  give  you  a  knife  when  I 
went  to  the  Fair  of  the  Month  of  April  ?  )! 

Sam  took  out  his  knife,  and  sharpened 
the  blade  on  the  leather  of  his  clog. 

"  Grateful  was  I  for  the  nice  knife,"  he 
said.  "  Did  I  not  stick  Old  Shemmi's  pig 
with  it,  Esther  fach  ?  " 

"Well— well,    then?" 

"  Look  you,  there's  old  murmuring  that 
you  were  taken  in  mischief  with  the 
Schoolin'  in  Abram's  hen  loft,"  said  Sam. 

Esther  rose  to  her  feet  and  looked  upon 
him.  This  is  the  manner  of  man  she  saw  : 
a  short,  bent-shouldered,  stunted  youth ; 
his  face  had  never  been  shaved  and  was 
covered  with  tawny  hair,  and  his  eyes  were 
sluggish. 

Esther  laughed. 

236 


GREATER   THAN   LOVE 


"  Boy  bach,  unfamiliar  you  are,"  she 
said. 

"  Mam  did  say,"  Sam  proceeded,  "  that 
I  ought  not  to  wed  a  shiftless  female 
who  doesn't  take  Communion  in  Capel 
Sion." 

"  Your  mother  Old  Ginni  is  right,"  said 
Esther.  "  Keep  you  on  with  Catrin.  Ugly 
is  Catrin  with  bad  pimples  in  her  face.  But 
listen  you,  Sam ;  a  large  ladi  I  will  be. 
I  don't  want  louts  like  you." 

The  fire  was  under  way ;  Esther  rolled 
up  to  her  waist  her  outer  petticoat  and  she 
put  on  an  apron. 

"  Why  sit  you  there  like  a  donkey  ?  " 
she  cried.  "  Away  you  and  do  the  milk- 
ing." 

"  Esther  fach,  come  you  to  Morfa," 
Sam  pleaded. 

"  For  sure  I'm  coming  to  Morfa," 
Esther  answered.  "  But  not  with  you. 
Am  I  not  going  to  find  a  love  there  ?  " 

Then  they  went  forth  into  the  close  to 
237 


MY   PEOPLE 


milk  Old  Shemmi's  cows,  and  while  they 
did  so  each  chanted : 


'There's  a  nice  cow  is  Gwen  I 

Milk  she  gives  indeed  ! 
More  milk,  little  Gwen  ;    more  milk  ! 

A  cow  fach  is  Gwen," — 


thereby  coaxing  the  animals  to  give  their 
full  yield. 

When  the  milk  was  separated  Esther 
put  on  her  Sabbath  garments  and  drew  her 
red  hair  tightly  over  her  forehead,  and  she 
took  her  place  in  Shemmi's  hay-waggon. 
There  were  many  in  the  waggon  other 
than  Esther  and  Sam,  for  the  custom  is 
that  the  farmer  takes  his  servants  and 
those  who  have  helped  him  without  pay- 
ment in  the  hayfield  freely  on  a  set  day 
to  the  Sea  of  Morfa. 

Shemmi's  waggon  reached  Morfa  before 

the  dew  had  lifted,  and  towards  the  heat 

of  the   day   (after  they   had   eaten)   the 

people  of  Manteg  gathered  together.    One 

238 


GREATER   THAN   LOVE 


said  :  "  Come  you  down  to  the  brim  now, 
and  let  us  wash  our  little  bodies."  The 
men  bathed  nakedly :  the  women  had 
brought  spare  petticoats  with  them,  and 
these  they  wore  when  they  were  in  the 
water. 

Esther  changed  her  behaviour  when 
she  got  to  Morfa,  and  she  feigned  herself 
above  all  who  had  come  from  Manteg,  and 
while  she  sat  alone  in  the  shadow  of  a  cliff 
there  came  to  her  Hws  Morris,  a  young 
man  who  was  in  training  to  be  a  minister. 
Mishtir  Morris  was  elegant :  his  clothes 
were  black  and  he  had  a  white  collar 
around  his  neck  and  white  cuffs  at  the 
ends  of  his  sleeves,  and  on  his  feet  he  had 
brown  shoes  of  canvas. 

Hws  Morris  took  off  from  his  head  his 
black  hat,  which  was  of  straw,  and  said 
to  Esther  : 

"  Sure  now,  come  you  from  Squire 
Pryce's  household  ?  You  are  his  daughter 
indeed  ?  " 

239 


MY   PEOPLE 


"  Stranger  bach,"  answered  Esther,  "  say 
you  like  that,  what  for  ?  " 

"  A  ladi  you  seem,"  said  Hws  Morris. 

Esther  was  vain,  and  she  did  not  per- 
ceive through  the  man's  artifice. 

"  Indeed,  indeed,  then,"  said  Hws  Mor- 
ris, "  speak  from  where  you  are." 

"  Did  you  not  say  I  was  Squire  Pryce's 
daughter  ?  "  said  Esther. 

"  Ho,  ho,  old  boy  wise  is  Squire  Pryce." 

Esther  turned  her  eyes  upon  the  bathers. 
Catrin  and  another  woman  were  knee-deep 
in  the  water;  between  them,  their  hands 
linked,  Sam.  She  heard  Bertha  Daviss 
crying  from  the  shore  :  "  Don't  you  wet  it, 
Sam  bach." 

Hws  Morris  placed  the  tips  of  his  fingers 
into  his  ears. 

"  This,"  he  mourned,  "  after  two  thou- 
sands years  of  religion.  They  need  the 
little  Gospel." 

"  Very  respectable  to  be  a  preacher  it  is," 
said  Esther. 

240 


GREATER   THAN   LOVE 


"  And  to  be  a  preacher's  mistress,"  said 
Hws  Morris.  "  Great  is  the  work  the  Big 
Man  has  called  me  to  do." 

A  murmuring  came  from  the  women 
on  the  beach  :  Sam  was  struggling  in  the 
water.  Esther  moved  a  little  nearer  the 
sea. 

"  Where  was  you  going  to,  then  ?  r 
asked  Hws  Morris.  "  You  was  not  going 
to  bathe  with  them  ?  ' 

"  Why  for  no  ?  " 

"  See  you  how  immodest  they  are.  Girl 
fach,  stay  you  here.  If  you  need  to  wash 
your  body,  go  you  round  to  the  backhead  of 
the  old  stones  and  take  off  your  clothes  and 
bathe  where  no  eyes  will  gaze  on  you." 

The  murmuring  now  sounded  violent : 
Lloyd  the  Schoolin'  was  swimming  to- 
wards Sam. 

Esther  passed  beyond  the  stones,  and  in 

a  cave  she  cast  off  her  clothes  and  walked 

into  the  sea  ;   and  having  cleansed  herself, 

she  dried  her  skin  in  the  heat  of  the  sun. 

H  241 


MY   PEOPLE 


When   she   got   out  from   the  cave,  Hws 
Morris  came  up  to  her. 

"  Hungry  you  are,"  he  said  to  her. 
"  Return  you  into  the  cave  and  eat  a 
little  of  this  cake." 

He  led  her  far  inside,  so  far  that  they 
could  not  see  anything  that  was  out- 
side. Hws  Morris  placed  his  arm  over 
Esther's  shoulders,  and  his  white  fingers 
moved  lightly  over  her  breast  to  her 
thigh.  He  stole  her  heart. 

Esther  heard  a  voice  crying  her  name. 

"  Wench  fach,"  said  Hws  Morris  to  her, 
"  let  none  know  of  our  business." 

Sam  shouted  her  name  against  the 
rocks  and  over  the  sea  ;  he  cried  it  in  the 
ears  of  strange  people  and  at  the  doors 
of  strange  houses.  Towards  dusk  he  said 
to  the  women  who  were,,  waiting  for 
Shemmi's  hay  waggon  to  start  home : 
"  Little  females,  why  is  Esther  not  here  ?  ' 

Catrin  jeered  at  him :  "  Filling  her 
belly  is  Esther." 

242 


GREATER   THAN   LOVE 


44  But  say  you've  seen  Esther  fach  !  " 
Sam  cried. 

"  Twt,  twt !  "  said  Bertha  Daviss. 
44  What's  the  matter  with  the  boy  ?  Take 
him  in  your  arms,  Catrin,  and  take  him 
to  your  bed." 

"  Speak  you  Esther  is  not  drowned," 
Sam  urged. 

"  Drowned  !  "  Catrin  repeated  loudly. 
"  Good  if  the  bad  concubine  is." 

"  Evil  is  the  wench,"  said  Bertha  Daviss. 
"  Remember  how  she  tried  to  snare  Rhys 
Shop." 

"  Fond  little  women,"  Sam  cried, 
"  say  you  that  Esther  fach  is  not 
drowned." 

"  Sam,  indeed  to  goodness,"  Bertha 
said  to  him,  "  trouble  not  your  mind  about 
a  harlot." 

44  Now,  dear  me,"  answered  Sam,  44  fool- 
ish is  your  speech,  Bertha.  How  shall 
I  come  home  without  Esther  ?  " 

"  There's  Catrin,  Sam  bach.  Owe  you 
243 


MY   PEOPLE 


nothing  to  Catrin  ?  Is  she  not  in  child 
by  you  ?  " 

Old  Shemmi's  hay  waggon  came  into 
the  roadway,  and  Sam  said  to  the  man  who 
drove  the  horse : 

"  Male  bach  nice,  don't  you  begin  before 
Esther  comes,  and  she  will  be  soon.  Maybe 
she's  sleeping." 

"  In  the  arms  of  a  man,"  said  Catrin. 

Sam  placed  his  hands  around  his  mouth 
and  shouted  Esther's  name. 

The  people  entered  the  waggon :  Sam 
remained  in  the  road. 

"  Find  you  her,  Sam  bach  !  "  Catrin 
cried.  "  Ask  the  Bad  Spirit  if  he  has 

seen  her." 
>^ 

Old  Shemmi's  mare  began  the  way 
home. 

Sam  hastened  back  to  the  beach  :  the 
tide  was  coming  in,  and  he  walked  through 
the  waters,  shouting,  moaning,  and  lament- 
ing. At  last  he  beheld  Esther,  and  an 
awful  wrath  was  kindled  within  him.  As 
244 


GREATER   THAN   LOVE 


he  had  loved  her,  so  he  now  hated  her  :  he 
hated  even  more  than  he  had  loved  her. 
He  had  gone  on  the  highway  that  ends  in 
Llanon.  At  a  little  distance  in  front  of 
him  he  saw  her  with  a  man,  and  he  crept 
close  to  them  and  he  heard  their  voices. 
He  heard  Esther  saying : 

"Don't  you  send  me  away  now.  Let 
me  stay  with  you." 

The  man  answered  :  "  Shut  your  throat, 
you  temptress.  For  why  did  you  flaunt 
your  body  before  my  religious  eyes  ?  " 

"  Did  you  not  make  fair  speeches  to 
me  ?  "  said  Esther. 

"  Terrible  is  your  sin,"  said  the  man. 
"  Turn  away  from  me.  Little  Big  Man 
bach,  forgive  me  for  eating  of  the  wench's 
fruit." 

Sam  came  up  to  them  by  stealth. 

"  Out  of  your  head  you  must  be,  boy 
bach,  to  make  sin  with  Esther,"  he  said. 

Hws  Morris  looked  into  Sam's  face,  and 
a  horrid  fear  struck  him,  and  he  ran  :  and 
245 


MY   PEOPLE 


Sam  opened  his  knife  and  running  after 
him,  caught  him  and  killed  him.  He 
had  difficulty  in  drawing  away  the  blade, 
because  it  had  entered  into  the  man's 
skull.  Then  he  returned  to  the  place 
where  Esther  was,  and  her  he  killed  also. 


246 


LAMENTATIONS 


247 


XIV 
LAMENTATIONS 

THE  Big  Man  despised  Evan  Rhiw,  and 
said  to  the  Respected  Davydd  Bern- 
Davydd,  who  then  ruled  from  Cape! 
Sion  : 

"  Bern-Davy dd,  oppress  Evan  Rhiw. 
Go  you  off  up  and  down  the  land  now  and 
say  to  the  people  :  *  Lo,  you  animals  in 
the  image  of  the  Big  Man,  God's  blast  is 
on  the  old  male  of  Rhiw.'  ' 

Bern-Davydd  descended  from  the  top 
of  the  moor  and  did  according  as  he  had 
been  commanded ;  and  his  words  got  to 
the  ears  of  Evan,  who  said  :  "  Why  must 
I  be  confused,  dear  me,  because  of  that 
crow  without  sense,  Bern-Davydd  ?  Call 
you  reasons  to  me." 
249 


MY   PEOPLE 


Turning  away  from  the  man,  the  Judge 
of  Sion  answered  by  the  mouth  of  Bertha 
Daviss  (who  was  the  tale-bearer  of  the 
district)  :  "  Evan  Rhiw,  what  are  your 
works  in  Capel  Sion  ?  Did  not  the  Big 
Man  say,  '  Bern  bach,  speak  to  me  the 
sacrifices  of  Evan  Rhiw  for  my  Terrible 
Temple.'  '  Little  Big  Man,'  I  answered, 
'  the  least  of  my  flock  gives  more 
than  him.'  '  Then  Bern-Davy dd,  by  the 
mouth  of  Bertha,  sang  :  "  Evan  Rhiw, 
swifter  is  the  hand  of  the  Lord  than 
the  water  which  turns  Old  Daniel's  mill. 
Awful  are  the  fingers  that  will  grasp  you 
by  your  rib  trousers  and  throw  you 
through  the  spouting  flames  into  the 
Fiery  Pool." 

Evan  did  not  regard  this  warning 
and  stiffened  his  legs,  because  his  sub- 
stance consisted  of  fifty  acres  of  land, 
a  horse,  three  cows,  and  swine  and  hens  : 
he  was  neither  perfect  nor  upright,  nor 
did  he  fear  the  men  who  sat  in  the  high 
250 


LAMENTATIONS 


places  in  Capel  Sion ;  and  he  revelled 
with  loose,  wild  men  in  the  inn  which  is 
kept  by  Mistress  Shames. 

Now  the  day  the  Big  Man  chastened 
him  he  drank  much  ale,  and,  unaware  of 
what  he  was  doing,  he  sinned  against  his 
daughter  Matilda.  In  the  morning  he 
perceived  what  he  had  done,  and  was 
fearful  lest  his  wife  Hannah  should  revile 
him  and  speak  aloud  his  wickedness.  So, 
having  laid  a  cunning  snare  for  her,  and 
finding  that  the  woman  did  not  know  any- 
thing, he  spoke  to  her  harshly  and  with- 
out cause.  This  is  what  he  said : 
"Filthier  you  are  than  a  cow." 
"  Evan,  indeed  to  goodness,"  Hannah 
replied,  '*  iobish  you  talk.  Sober  dear,  do 
I  not  work  to  the  bone  ?  J!  With  a  knife 
she  scraped  through  the  refuse  on  her 
arm  and  displayed  to  him  the  thinness 
to  which  she  referred.  Then  in  her  anger 
she  spoke  :  "  Slack  you  are,  Evan  Rhiw. 
Your  little  land  you  drink  in  the  tavern 
251 


MY   PEOPLE 


of  Mistress  Shames.  Are  not  the  people 
mouthing  your  foolish  ways  on  the  tramp- 
ing road  and  in  Shop  Rhys  ?  " 

Matilda  entered  the  kitchen,  and  threw 
these  words  at  him  :  "  Dull  and  whorish 
you  are,  son  of  the  Bad  Spirit.  Serious 
me,  clean  your  smelly  flesh  in  the  pond." 

Hannah  interpreted  the  meaning  of 
Matilda's  words,  and  she  reproached  him 
bitterly. 

But  Evan  answered  none  of  the  women. 
He  went  to  the  inn,  and  in  his  muddle  he 
sorrowed  :  "  Five  over  twenty  years  have 
I  been  wedded.  When  I  took  Hannah  the 
servant  of  Bensha  to  my  bed,  rich  was  I. 
Did  I  not  have  six  pairs  of  drawers,  and 
six  pairs  of  stockings,  and  six  pairs  of 
shirts  of  white  linen  ?  And  three  pairs  of 
rib  trousers  ?  There's  rib,  people  bach. 
Ninepence  over  half  a  crown  a  yard  it  cost 
in  the  Shop  of  the  Bridge  in  Castellybryn. 
Not  a  shirt  of  linen  do  I  possess  this  day. 
Wasteful  has  Hannah  been  with  mine. 
252 


LAMENTATIONS 


Sad  is  my  lot.  Disorderly  is  the  female, 
and  Matilda  says  this  and  that  about  me 
to  my  discredit." 

He  brayed  his  woe  also  in  the  narrow 
Roman  road  which  takes  you  past  the 
Schoolhouse  and  in  the  path  that  cuts 
over  Gorse  Penparc  into  the  field  wherein 
stands  Rhiw.  At  an  early  hour  in  the 
morning  Matilda  said  to  her  mother : 
"  Mam  now,  the  cows  fach  are  lowing  to 
be  milked,"  and  receiving  no  answer  she 
looked  into  Hannah's  face  and  examined 
her  body,  and  she  saw  that  the  woman  was 
cold  dead,  whereupon  she  went  out  and 
into  the  stable,  in  the  loft  of  which  Evan 
slept,  and  cried  up  to  him  :  "  Father  bach, 
do  you  stir  yourself.  Old  mam  has  gone 
to  wear  a  White  Shirt." 

While  Sara  Ann  was  clothing  herself  in 
mournful  raiment  Evan  put  on  his  clogs 
and  went  to  the  house  of  Lias  the  Carpen- 
ter, and  to  Lias  he  said  :  "  The  nice  man, 
for  why  you  don't  know  there  is  a  desolate 
253 


MY   PEOPLE 


place  in  my  heart  this  one  minute  ?  Come 
you  with  your  little  rule  that  shows  the 
inches  and  measure  the  body  of  old  Hannah 
for  a  coffin." 

The  second  day  that  Hannah  rested  in 
the  burial-ground  of  Capel  Sion,  Evan 
rubbed  his  face  and  hands  with  small 
gravel  in  the  little  water  which  runs  at 
the  foot  of  the  close  of  Rhiw,  and  he 
drew  a  comb  through  his  thinnish  beard, 
and  he  walked  to  the  house  of  Bern- 
Davydd. 

"  Respected  and  religious  preacher," 
he  said,  "  full  of  repentance  am  I,  son  of 
the  little  White  Jesus." 

"  Happy  you  make  me,  Evan  Rhiw," 
answered  Bern-Davy dd.  "  Grand  will  the 
angels  sing,  man,  in  the  White  Palace, 
when  you  take  the  communion.  The 
wine,  Evan,  is  it  not  the  blood  and  the 
bread  the  flesh  of  the  Big  Man  ?  " 

"  Discreet  and  wise  ruler,  let  me  make 
him  a  nice  little  offering." 
254 


LAMENTATIONS 


"  Religious  proper,  you  are,  Evan.  Not 
to  me,  man,  not  to  Mistress  Bern-Davydd 
you  make  your  sacrifices,  but  to  the  Big 
Man.  I  keep  your  gift  in  trust  for  Him. 
What  shall  I  say  is  the  name  of  the  sacri- 
fice, Evan  bach  ?  ' 

"  This  day  the  wench  Sara  Ann  is  churn- 
ing, and  is  she  not  bringing  him  a  pound 
of  little  butter  ?  " 

"  Evan  Rhiw,  there  is  no  sound  of  such 
a  sacrifice  in  the  Bible." 

"  And  a  tin  pitcher  full  of  buttermilk." 

"  Did  Abram  offer  the  three  Strangers 
buttermilk,  Evan  ?  " 

"  And  a  big  cabbage  with  a  white 
heart." 

"The  Children  of  Israel,  Evan  bach, 
ate  flesh." 

"  And  a  full  wheelbarrow  of  potatoes." 

"  Tarry  you  awhile,"  said  Bern-Davydd, 

"  and  I  will  commune  with  the  Big  Man." 

Presently  he  made  utterance  :    "  This  is 

what  the  Great  One  of  Capel  Sion  says  : 

255 


MY   PEOPLE 


'  I  will  abate  my  oppression  of  Evan  Rhiw 
if  he  makes  a  sacrifice  of  a  pig.' ' 

Evan  brought  the  pig ;  and  he  was  ad- 
mitted into  Sion,  and  for  two  years  he 
sinned  not,  and  there  was  much  pious  joy 
in  his  way,  and  he  prospered  exceedingly. 
People  said  one  to  another  :  u  Behold  now, 
this  man  Evan  is  among  the  wisest  in  the 
Capel.  And  there's  rich  he  is."  More- 
over he  had  given  over  feasting  on  the 
Devil's  brew  with  loose,  wild  men,  and  his 
lips  constantly  moved  in  silent  prayer,  and 
he  had  respect  for  those  who  sat  in  the 
high  places. 

But  as  the  man's  possessions  multiplied, 
his  daughter  Matilda  got  dull  and  became 
a  cumbersome  thing  on  him :  and  he 
charged  the  Big  Man  foolishly  before  the 
congregation  of  the  Seiet.  "  Why,  God 
bach,"  he  said,  "  is  your  foot  so  heavy  on 
me  ?  Anf  I  not  religious  ?  Ask  you  the 
Respected  Davydd  Bern-Davydd.  Matilda 
is  strange  and  amaze'd  in  her  eyes, 
256 


LAMENTATIONS 


and  she  is  set  on  mischief,  and  why  brawls 
she  loudly  about  me  ?  Ach,  indeed  !  Bad 
is  this  for  your  male  son."  For  this  God 
cursed  his  belongings  :  two  horses  sickened 
and  perished,  great  rain  fell  upon  his 
hay,  which  was  ripe  to  be  stacked ;  a  cow 
destroyed  her  calf.  The  congregation  was 
sore  and  murmured  against  him  :  "  Pity 
now  that  our  hay  is  rotting  because  of  the 
bad  sin  of  Evan  Rhiw."  A  body  of  them 
wailed  to  Bern-Davydd. 

"  Speech  him'  to  the  Great  Harvester 
about  this  man  Evan  Rhiw,"  they 
said. 

"  Children  bach,"  said  Bern-Davydd, 
"  run  you  about  and  about,  and  I  will  go 
to  the  top  of  the  old  moor  and  sing  this 
lamentation  to  Him  :  '  Now  then,  why 
for  you  see  our  costly  hay  ruined  ?  Is 
it  a  light  thing  that  our  precious 
animals  starve  throughout  the  hard 
days  ?  '  " 

They  looked  at  one  another  and 
8  257 


MY  PEOPLE 


marvelled  at  the  familiarity  between 
Bern-Davydd  and  the  Big  Man.  "  Sure," 
they  said,  "  he  is  as  important  as 
God." 

The  third  day  the  Judge  of  Sion  com- 
manded his  flock  to  him,  and  he  said  to 
them :  "  Boys,  boys,  glad  was  the  Big 
Man  that  I  spoke  to  Him.  Do  you  know 
what  He  said  ?  '  Large  thanks,  Bern  bach. 
Religious  are  you  to  remind  me  of  the  sin 
of  Evan  Rhiw.  The  man  has  a  clean  heart, 
and  an  adder  in  his  house.'  '  Big  Man, 
don't  you  vex  me,'  I  said.  '  Whisper  you 
me  the  name  of  the  adder.'  The  Big  Man 
said,  '  Maltida.  Evan  may  sin  again, 
grievously,  but  I  will  restore  him  to  Capel 
Sion,  and  I  will  bless  him  abundantly,  for 
his  freewill  offerings  to  my  Temple  are 
generous.'  Little  boys,  He  went  back  to 
Heaven  in  a  cloud,  and  the  cloud  was 
no  bigger  than  the  flat  of  this  old 
hand." 

The  night  of  the  Hiring  Fair  Evan  drank 
258 


LAMENTATIONS 


in  the  inn,  and  the  ale  made  him  drunk, 
and  he  cried  a  ribald  song ;  the  men  with 
whom  he  drank  mocked  him,  and  they 
carried  him  into  the  stable  and  laid  him 
in  a  manger,  and  covered  him  with  hay ; 
and  in  the  stall  they  put  a  horse,  thinking 
the  animal  would  eat  Evan's  hair  and 
beard.  But  the  Big  Man  watched  over 
Evan,  and  the  horse  did  not  eat  his 
beard. 

"What  shall  we  do,"  said  the  light 
men,  "  to  humble  him  before  the  con- 
gregation ?  " 

One  said  :  "  Let  us  strip  the  skin  from 
the  horse  that  perished,  which  is  buried 
in  the  narrow  field,  and  we  will  throw  it 
over  his  head." 

Thus  they  did,  and  Evan  went  home 
with  the  skin  of  the  horse  covering  the 
back  of  him  like  a  mantle. 

His  daughter  Maltida  saw  him  and  was 
disturbed,  and  she  kept  out  of  his  way  until 
he  slept.  Then  she  issued  forth  from  her 
259 


MY  PEOPLE 


hiding  place,  and  said  to  herself :  "  Jesus 
bach,  if  the  sons  of  men  wear  the  habit 
of  horses  the  daughters  of  God  must 
go  naked."  She  cast  from  her  body  her 
clothes,  and  went  down  the  Roman  road 
and  into  the  village.  The  people  closed 
their  doors  on  her,  and  for  four  days  she 
wandered  thereabouts  nakedly.  The  men  of 
the  neighbourhood  laid  rabbit  traps  on  the 
floor  of  the  fields,  and  one  trap  caught  the 
foot  of  Maltida,  and  she  was  delivered  into 
Evan's  hands.  Having  clothed  her,  he 
took  a  long  rope,  the  length  and  thickness 
that  is  used  to  keep  a  load  of  hay  intact, 
and  one  end  of  the  rope  he  fastened  round 
her  right  wrist  and  one  end  round  the  left 
wrist.  In  this  wise  he  drove  her  before  him, 
in  the  manner  in  which  a  colt  is  driven, 
to  the  madhouse  of  the  three  shires,  which 
is  in  the  town  of  Carmarthen,  and  the 
distance  from  Manteg  to  Carmarthen  is 
twenty-four  miles. 

After  that  Evan  did  not  sin  any  more ; 
260 


LAMENTATIONS 


his  belongings  increased,  and  he  had  ten 
milching  cows  and  five  horses,  and  he  hired 
a  manservant  and  a  maidservant,  and  he 
rented  twenty-five  acres  of  land  over  and 
beyond  the  land  that  was  his,  and  his 
house  remained  religious  as  long  as  he 
lived. 


261 


THE    BLAST    OF    GOD 


263 


XV 

THE    BLAST    OF    GOD 

OWEN  TYGWYN — Tygwyn  is  the  zinc-roofed 
house  that  is  in  a  group  of  trees  at  the 
back  of  Capel  Sion — was  ploughing  when 
his  wife  Shan  came  to  the  break  in  the 
hedge,  crying : 

"  For  what  you  think,  little  man  ?  Dai 
is  hanging  in  the  cowhouse.  Come  you 
now  and  see  to  him." 

Owen  ended  the  furrow  and  unharnessed 
the  horse,  which  he  led  into  the  stable 
and  fed  with  hay.  Then  he  unravelled 
the  knot  in  the  rope  which  had  choked 
the  breath  of  his  son  Dai.  When  he  was 
finished  and  Dai  was  laid  on  the  floor  of 
the  cowhouse,  Shan  said  to  him  : 

"  Eat  you  your  middle-of-the-day 
265 


MY    PEOPLE 


morsel  now,  before  you  go  back  to  the  old 
plough." 

Having  eaten  to  his  liking  of  the  beaten 
potatoes  and  buttermilk,  Owen  resumed 
his  labour,  and  while  he  was  labouring  he 
rehearsed  a  prayer  he  would  make  for  a 
male  child,  and  that  prayer  he  said  to 
the  Big  Husband  at  the  far  end  of  the 
light.  His  petition  reached  the  ears  of 
God,  and  after  twenty  months  it  was 
answered :  the  cry  of  the  infant  woke 
him,  and  he  got  out  of  bed  and  lit  a  tallow 
candle,  and  read  his  Bible,  because  he  was 
very  glad.  With  the  rising  of  the  sun 
he  brought  his  three  cows  into  the  close. 

"  Lissi  Mari,"  he  said  to  his  daughter, 
who  slept  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  "  get 
you  up  now,  wench  fach,  and  milk  the 
creatures,  for  things  are  so-so  with  Shan. 
Are  not  their  old  udders  bursting  ?  >; 

The  child  was  named  Samuel,  and  in 
Capel  Sion  on  the  Sabbath  Owen  glorified 
the  Big  Man. 

266 


THE   BLAST   OF    GOD 


But  his  words  were  not  pleasing  to 
Joshua  Lancoch,  who  corrected  him, 
saying  : 

"  An  old  veil  females  wear  must  divide 
you  from  the  face  of  the  Big  Man.  In- 
deed, like  lead  is  my  heart  for  you.  Over- 
vain  you  are  to  expect  too  much  from  your 
brat.  He  is  not  of  the  Lord's  giving." 

"  Sober,  Joshua,"  said  Owen,  "  speak 
you  out,  dear  me,  there's  a  wise  little  man." 

"  Well-well,  now,  ill  is  my  stomach  to 
make  speech,  but  Shan  is  a  miscarrying 
woman,  and  a  miscarrying  woman  is 
dung  in  the  nose  of  the  Man  of  Terror. 
Two  she  miscarried  before  Dai,  Owen 
bach,  and  Dai  hanged  himself  to  the  Fiery 
Pool  in  the  cowhouse.  Ach  y  fi  !  Do  you 
be  humble,  and  tempt  you  the  Big  Man 
not  overmuch.  He  is  quick  to  anger." 

Because  of  this  chiding  Owen  entreated 
the  Lord  continually,  and  he  also  made 
sacrifices  unto  Capel  Sion  :  his  possessions 
got  small  and  he  whipped  his  spirit  into 

267 


MY  PEOPLE 


humility  and  subjection,  for  is  it  not 
written  that  the  meek  shall  inherit  the 
Kingdom  ?  He  sold  live  stock  to  pay  his 
rent,  and  this  stock  he  was  never  able  to 
replace.  After  the  birth  of  Samuel  Shan 
miscarried  two  children,  and  the  price  of 
two  pigs  provided  them  with  coffins  and 
graves. 

In  his  bitterness  Owen  turned  to  his  wife 
and  said :  "  Pity  the  Big  Man  has  made 
you  such  a  spoilful  curse." 

Shan  spread  her  hands  over  her  waste- 
ful breasts,  and  moaned : 

"  Make  you  not  that  speech,  little  Owen. 
Have  you  not  Samuel  ?  Did  not  the  Great 
Husband  send  him  in  answer  to  your 
prayer  ?  ' 

"  Right  true,  Shan.  Now  indeed,  pious 
the  boy  bach  is." 

"  Iss-iss.  Does  he  not  tongue  prayers 
like  a  preacher  ?  And  his  learning  is  more 
than  the  old  Schoolin's." 

"  Why  you  speak  stupid  for,  woman  ? 
268 


THE   BLAST    OF    GOD 


That  old  blockhead  of  a  Schoolin'  knows 
nothing." 

"  Grand  will  be  if  we  send  him  to  the 
School  of  Grammar  in  Castellybryn." 

"  Iss,  dear  me." 

"  Holy  joy  will  be  to  listen  to  him  preach 
the  Word." 

"  Sam  bach  will  make  every  one  weep 
with  his  eloquence." 

Owen  called  his  son  to  him. 

"  Stand  you  on  an  old  chair,"  he  said 
to  him,  "  and  say  out  a  small  hymn  and 
make  a  bit  of  prayer." 

When  the  lad  finished,  Owen  said  : 

"  Well  done,  little  boy  bach  clever. 
Did  I  not  think  I  was  in  Capel  Sion  ?  " 

"  Pretty  his  speech,"  exclaimed  Shan. 
"  Heard  you  how  he  sang,  '  Be  with  Thy 
nice  servant  bach  in  the  Temple  of  Sion, 
prosper  his  work  among  the  sinful  con- 
gregation' ?  ): 

Samuel  passed  the  seventh  standard 
in  the  School  of  Lloyd,  whereat  Owen, 
269 


MY   PEOPLE 


asked  in  the  Seiet  to  bear  testimony,  spoke 
these  words  : 

"  Do  you  be  glad  with  me  that  the  Big 
Man  has  inspired  my  son  Samuel  to  noise 
abroad  His  Word.  Has  not  the  Lord 
been  good  to  me  then  ?  You  all  know 
that  Shan  is  a  miscarrying  woman.  Yet, 
lo,  He  blesses  her  iniquity.  Mouth  you 
this  miracle  throughout  all  the  land." 

In  due  season  he  went  to  Castellybryn 
and  said  to  the  Chief  Teacher  of  the 
School  of  Grammar  : 

"  Mishtir  bach,  make  you  room  for  my 
son  Samuel,  the  child  the  Big  Husband 
sent  in  answer  to  my  groanings." 

The  day  of  the  Harvest  Fair  he  jour- 
neyed there  again,  and  he  drove  before 
him  a  cow  in  calf,  and  one  part  of  the 
money  he  got  for  the  animal  he  gave  to 
the  Chief  Teacher,  and  with  the  other 
part  he  caused  to  be  made  for  Samuel  a 
preacher's  coat,  which  is  of  shiny  black 
material. 

270 


THE   BLAST   OF   GOD 


Owen  and  Shan  bent  their  backs  and 
tilled  and  turned  the  soil,  but  they  reaped 
less  than  they  sowed.  Lissi  Mari  became 
a  servant-maid  on  Abel's  farm  (which  is 
on  the  sea  side  of  the  moor).  Before  the 
term  of  her  hire  was  over  she  returned 
to  her  father's  house. 

"  Lissi  Mari  is  carrying  her  cross," 
Shan  mourned. 

"  We  will  keep  this  a  secret  from  my 
son,"  said  Owen.  "  Very  holy  must  his 
thoughts  be  stored." 

Samuel  entered  College  Carmarthen, 
and  Owen  sold  two  sheep  so  that  his  son 
might  have  clothes  that  would  be  for 
glory  and  holiness. 

"  That's  fair,  little  man,"  said  Shan. 
"  He  must  be  kept  presentable,"  and  every 
Friday  she  killed  a  fattened  hen  and  had 
it  sent  to  the  house  where  he  lodged. 

For  all  that  Owen  and  Shan  did,  Samuel 
was  grateful,  and  he  said  :  "In  me  they 
will  find  their  stronghold ;  "  and  in  the 
271 


MY   PEOPLE 


call  of  Capel  Bethel,  in  Morfa,  he  distin- 
guished the  voice  of  God. 

And  Owen  said  to  his  wife  Shan : 

"  The  Great  Father  is  repenting  of  His 
doings  against  you,  Shan  fach." 

"  Little  man,  iss.  Iss,  little  man,"  she 
answered  gladly.  "  Joyful  am  I  to  see 
the  boy  in  the  pulpit." 

As  their  souls  rejoiced,  the  weariness 
which  follows  heavy  toil  made  their  bones 
stiff.  Shan  was  flat  and  unlovely,  and 
of  the  colour  of  earth.  Except  on  the 
Sabbath  she  covered  her  bosom  with  many 
shawls  and  a  discarded  waistcoat,  and  in 
the  wrinkles  of  her  face  there  was  much 
dirt. 

There  was  a  day  when  Samuel  came  to 
Tygwyn  and  looked  upon  the  burdens  of 
his  father  and  mother,  and  he  said  to  them  : 

"  People  bach,  leave  Tygwyn  and  go 
you  and  abide  in  the  cottage  against  the 
back  of  Shop  Rhys.  Take  you  Lissi 
Mari's  baby." 

272 


THE   BLAST   OF   GOD 


'*  Foolish  is  your  speech,"  said  Shan. 
"  How  shall  we  fend  without  a  little  cow 
and  a  little  pig  ?  " 

"  Am  I  not  of  your  flesh  ?  "  asked 
Samuel. 

"  Gift  of  the  Big  Father,  good  are  you," 
and  the  woman  shivered  in  her  happiness, 
and  Owen  and  Shan  lifted  their  feet  and 
took  all  that  was  in  the  house  and  went  to 
abide  in  the  place  appointed  by  Samuel. 

Three  years  passed.  Lissi  Mari  was 
out  in  the  world.  Owen  was  a  power  in 
Capel  Sion,  for  the  brand  was  lifted  from 
the  face  of  Shan. 

Then  a  horrible  thing  happened : 
Samuel  wrought  folly  in  Capel  Bethel, 
in  Morfa,  and  the  sound  of  it  reached 
the  high  places  of  all  the  Capels. 

Hugh  Morgan,  a  deacon  in  Bethel, 
stopped  his  pony  in  front  of  Shop  Rhys. 

"  Show  him  me  the  abode  of  Owen  the 
Father  of  Samuel  the  minister  of  Bethel," 
he  said  to  Rhys. 

T  273 


MY   PEOPLE 


Rhys  asked :  "  Explain  him  to  me  his 
little  errand  now,  dear  stranger." 

"  Little  man  who  sells  things  in  a  shop, 
why  for  will  he  plead  ?  Take  him  me  now 
hasty  to  the  place." 

"  Tell  him  me  then  at  once  quickly," 
sad  Rhys. 

"  Has  he  not  heard  of  this  infamy  ? 
Man,  man,  Samuel  the  son  of  Satan  has 
hanged  his  clay." 

"  Solemn  !     Solemn  !  " 

"  Was  not  the  nanny-goat  the  father  of 
Esther's  child  ?  Esther  the  daughter  of 
Shon  of  the  Boats  ?  " 

"  Speak  he  like  that  now  ?  " 

"  Was  there  not  a  meeting  of  First 
Men  the  last  night,  and  did  I  not  accuse 
him  ?  *  You  put  her  big,'  I  speeched." 

"  Talk  in  that  manner  then  ?  "  said 
Rhys  of  the  Shop.  "  What  glory  has  ever 
come  from  a  miscarrying  woman  ?  ' 

Rhys  Shop  and  Hugh  Morgan  went  into 
the  house  of  Owen  and  Shan. 
274 


THE   BLAST   OF    GOD 


"  For  shame,  man  of  the  bad,"  said 
Rhys.  "  And  you  too,  Shan,  the  serpent 
in  the  Great  One's  Temple.  An  old 
abomination  you  are  then  !  There  was 
Dai,  and  the  dead,  though  not  born. 
And  now  Samuel." 

"  Dear  little  Rhys,  harsh  are  your 
words,"  said  Owen. 

Hugh  Morgan  stood  on  the  threshold. 
"  Dear  me,  man,"  he  said  to  Rhys, 
"  there's  a  talker  he  is  for  sure !  Am 
I  not  the  messenger  ?  '  Then  he  turned 
to  Owen  and  Shan  and  spoke  to  them 
wrathfully  :  "Is  not  Samuel  the  father 
of  Esther's  child  ?  And  has  he  not  hanged 
himself  ?  " 

"  Shame  on  you,  sinners,"  said  Rhys. 

"  Fetch  you  Satan's  carcase  away  this 
day,"  said  Hugh  Morgan.  "  The  smelly 
clay  is  lying  in  my  barn.  Fetch  you  the 
unholy  object." 

Owen  hired  a  cart  and  horse  and  he 
placed  three  sacks  and  a  little  straw  on 
275 


MY   PEOPLE 


the  floor  of  the  cart ;  and  Shan  said  to 
him :  "  Hide  you  this  little  patchwork 
quilt  under  the  sacks  and  straw,  for  fear 
men's  eyes  will  see  it  and  they  jeer  at 
you." 

Before  departing,  Owen  said  : 
"  Go  you  and  dig  a  grave  and  have  it 
ready  that  we  can  bury  your  son  this 
night.  Leave  space  between  Dai's  and 
his  for  my  coffin.  When  the  Big  Trumpet 
tones  I  will  rise  early  and  make  excuses 
to  the  Angel  not  to  be  too  hard  on  your 
sons  as  they  were  born  of  a  miscarrying 
woman." 


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